STUNT
by Italian writer
Summary: A police detective meets our time agents, but she's no ordinary human being, and she's bound to "cause havoc in high places". Rated K for language. English is not my mother tongue, so please excuse the mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Some people may think that being a female detective in a big US city is cool, but it's not: it's hard, and sometimes very depressing. I know what you might ask me: have you ever shot anyone? Yes, I have, and I'm not proud of it. Have you ever seen dead people? Yes, I have, and it can be very gross sometimes. Most of the times, though, it's just downright sad.

My name is Constance Stunt, Connie for my friends (yes, they love to tell the same old joke: Connie pulled her stunt again!) I'm 39, and I am a detective at the Marina del Rey police department, L.A. I've been a police woman for 15 years now, and I'm growing pretty tired of it. As I said, it's hard, and sometimes I feel like my work leads me nowhere: I catch the bad guys, but one day later they get out of jail with the compliments of their overdressed and overpaid lawyers.

But the reason why I'm telling you all this is that something special happened a couple of months ago, and boy, did that break the routine. I could not make an official report, so all I can do is write it down in my personal notes. Feel free to believe me or not.

I was doing the same old car watch on a well-known drug dealer we had been following for almost a week, waiting for a wrong move. It was night, about 11:30 pm, and I was getting pretty bored of staying in that cold car, when I suddenly realized that my wristwatch had stopped, as well as the car's clock. I looked at my cell phone, and as sure as hell it had stopped too. I was still trying to understand what might have happened to all my clocks, when I saw a tall blonde standing outside my car. I swear she appeared out of thin air. She was wearing a blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes, and she was smiling. Her smile was warm and reassuring, but I didn't feel reassured at all. Instead, I felt that something was terribly wrong. I started getting out of the car, but I couldn't complete my move: a man was standing in front of my door, partially blocking it. Now where did he appear from, too? The man was overdressed, too: grey suit, white shirt, grey tie. His eyes were also grey, and very, very cold. His hair was blond and straight, almost child-like. But there was nothing child-like about his attitude. He was looking at me as if my mere presence were annoying him.

My training finally kicked in: I drew out my police card and shoved it in front of the man's face.

"Police. You are interfering with an undercover operation. Identify yourselves."

The man's eyes never wavered. I could tell he was not impressed at all. His voice was as cold as the rest of him.

"Sorry, _you _are interfering with _our_ operation. Now get back in the car and leave."

This time I didn't hesitate: I pulled out my gun and aimed it straight at the man's chest. I didn't mean to, but he wasn't leaving me much vital space.

"I'm serious, buddy. This is a police operation and you cannot stay here. If you don't leave immediately, I will be forced to arrest you."

Before the man could reply, the woman touched his sleeve as if to pacify him and started to talk.

"We're sorry, detective, we didn't mean to interfere in your operation, but we have been pursuing the man in there for quite some time and we know that tonight he's about to do something he shouldn't really do."

When I finally managed to avert my eyes from the man, I watched her and I decided that she looked pretty sincere.

"Who are you? Do you work for some governmental agency?"

"Sort of. But we cannot show you any IDs. We're undercover, too."

"I see. How convenient. Then you won't mind telling me your names, so I can check them out with my headquarters, will you?"

The blonde woman smiled that reassuring smile again.

"My name is Sapphire, and my partner's name is Steel."

"I mean your _real_ names, I'm not interested in nicknames."

"They are not nicknames. That's how we're called where we come from."

"And where might that be?

"We are from another country. An ally."

"Are you from the UK? I picked a British accent."

"Yes, you could say that."

"Listen, Ms... Sapphire, I could say many things, but right now all I want to say is: if you are about to enter that building and arrest my man, then I want to lead the operation. Understood?"

She was silent for a few moments, and she kept looking at her partner's eyes. They looked as if they were silently exchanging some form of information. I did hear something, but it was so faint, it sounded like the wind trying to whisper something in my ear, and I couldn't quite make out what it was saying. It was pretty weird, really.

The woman finally answered.

"Very well, detective. We will get into that building together, and you will watch _your_ man doing something pretty strange. It might not look like a criminal offence to you, but believe me: it will be VERY wrong. We will act before he completes the… transaction. It's important that you let us proceed without interfering. You will be able to arrest the man when we are finished."

I looked at her for at least thirty seconds, trying to understand if she was telling the truth or was trying to trick me into something dangerous, but it all was so unusual, I could not rely on my instinct anymore.

"All right. I want to believe you. How do we proceed?"

The man spoke this time, still looking at me like you would look at a nosy child.

"We will get in there and do what we were sent to do. You just stay behind and don't start shooting with that gun of yours."

"Oh, you mean, if the people in there start shooting at you, I can sit and watch, and save my bullets? No problem, buddy."

"I expect they will be too busy to shoot."

"You don't know these people: shooting is their second nature, and they won't hesitate killing you, me or anybody else who gets between them and whatever they are trying to accomplish."

"Just try to stay out of trouble, and everything will be fine. Let's go."

I didn't know the man, but I already hated him and his warm personality!

I grabbed my bullet-proof jacket, a spare pack of ammunition, and ran after the two agents, or whatever they were. I didn't feel like calling my captain and explain the situation: I still didn't know what the hell was going on.

I knew the drug dealer was with at least another man, and I was really curious to find out how these two unarmed people were hoping to subdue two or more ruthless criminals. The man looked cool enough, but the woman certainly didn't look like a martial art pro.

Yet they were walking up the stairs with a self-assuredness that surprised me. And how the hell did they know where they were going? And what was that freezing breeze they were leaving behind them?

They stopped at the third floor and approached a door on the left side of the aisle. The air around them was getting colder and colder, and I felt like I was standing in front of a huge freezer's open door. Once again they looked at each other intensely, and once again I heard something whispering in the back of my mind. That barely audible sound distracted me, so I reacted slowly when the man abruptly smashed the door open with his bare hand. Boy, that at least explained his name!

But I was not prepared for what was waiting for us inside the apartment: my drug dealer was on the ground, presumably dead, or at least not looking very well, for he looked decidedly old. His skin was wrinkled and dry, his hair was all grey and his open eyes were glazed. Yet I knew he was only 25! And he looked like he died of old age!

There was another man in the room, and he was facing… a little girl! But he was scared as hell, and he was recoiling from the girl, who was obviously trying to touch him. Steel sprang into action and positioned himself between the child and the man. The girl touched him, and I swear I saw her getting all glazed with what looked like frost. She screamed, and disappeared. Surprisingly, Steel collapsed, while Sapphire was trying to reassure the surviving crook. My brain finally managed to move my body, so I handcuffed the man and read him his rights, although my mind was still trying to take in the situation.

Before I had a chance to ask what had just happened, Sapphire knelt worriedly in front of her partner, who was clearly trying to speak, not very successfully.

"T-take…. t-time…back. M-must…save t-that… m-man's life."

Did he really say "take time back"? Before I could try to make sense of his words, Sapphire's eyes started to glow an eerie blue, and I heard a strange, deep rhythmic sound vibrating right down to my very bones.

I know you won't believe this, but I saw myself back in the car, watching at my clocks, then I saw me talking to the two agents, and finally I saw us breaking into the apartment. And then I saw everything all over again, but this time the two agents didn't stop at my car, but went straight upstairs. I closed my eyes, feeling confused and slightly nauseated.

When I opened them again, I was back in my car, still watching at my wristwatch. I jumped out of the car and, without even bothering to take my bullet-proof jacket, I dashed into the building. When I got at the third floor, the door was open. I got into the apartment, and I saw the same scene as before, except this time my drug dealer was alive and looking the same, young son of a bastard. He and his friend were trying to get out of the apartment, but my instincts luckily kicked in: I drew out my gun and aimed it at the men's face.

"Freeze right there! LAPD. You're under arrest."

The two were too distraught to react, and they let me handcuff them without so much as a peep.

Once taken care of that, I turned my attention to the scene inside the apartment: Steel was again on the floor, shivering, and Sapphire was looking worriedly at him, apparently careful not to touch him. I locked my two crooks at a solid table leg bolted to the ground, then I approached the two agents.

"What happened to him?" I asked Sapphire.

"He's… not feeling very well."

"Shall I call an ambulance?"

"No need. A friend of us is coming: he will take care of his… problem."

"What kind of problem is it, exactly? Has he been shot?" As soon as I asked that, I realized it was a silly question: there was no blood staining Steel's grey suit.

"No, he's suffering from a relapse of an old disease of his. Nothing to be concerned about. Why don't you take care of your two drug dealers?"

I could easily tell she was trying to get rid of me, so I said:

"All right, I'm bringing them to the station. You stay here, though, I want to talk to your as soon as I'm back."

"Of course."

Once downstairs, though, I called a reinforcement car and, as soon as my colleagues arrived, I asked them to bring the two drug dealers to the station. I had something else to take care of.

When I got back upstairs, I heard another voice booming from the apartment. Now who the hell was that? And how on earth did he get into the building without me noticing him?

The deep voice was saying:

"Steel, Steel, why do you keep doing that? You know very well that it's dangerous without me insulating you."

I heard Sapphire's voice answering him.

"It was a rather urgent situation, Lead. He had no choice. The time child was threatening two lives."

'The time child?' Then I heard Steel's voice, uncharacteristically faint and shaky.

"Not to mention _our_ lives, and possibly also the detective's."

The booming voice asked:

"What detective?"

I chose that moment to make my entrance.

"This detective. I expect an explanation, Sapphire, and it better be very convincing."

Boy, the newcomer's looks certainly matched his voice: he was huge! But he had a very kind expression on his smiling face, so I didn't classify him as a potential threat.

Sapphire smiled at me, too, while Steel of course just frowned at me, and asked:

"You remember what happened?"

"Of course I remember. I'm not as old as that drug dealer looked a few minutes ago. By the way, what happened to him? And why is he his young, despicable self again?"

The three exchanged that strange look again, and this time I definitely heard something. A female voice, barely audible, was saying: She shouldn't be able to remember. When I took time back, she wasn't in the picture again.

"What do you mean, 'took time back'?" I asked.

Boy, did I get their attention! Now they were staring at me with a shocked expression, and even Steel looked positively surprised.

"You heard that?" he asked.

"Not very clearly, almost as if someone was whispering in my ear. But it was Sapphire's voice all right."

Steel looked at his partners and said, in a very somber voice:

"Our course of action must be reconsidered."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Believe me if I tell you that being intensely watched by three of the weirdest people I've ever met was pretty scary. I mean, I've met countless weirdoes in my life, but these three were strange _inside_. And the things they were talking about? Time child? Time taken back? Not to mention their communication system: was it telepathy? Yes, that would explain the words I heard in my mind. Too bad I don't believe in telepathy. Nor in people who can take time back at will. Nor in young people dying of old age. Nor in pretty much everything I witnessed to today.

Before I could devise a good course of action of my own, Sapphire said:

"What if we all go to a quiet, safe place and talk?"

I couldn't agree more.

"That's a very good idea. What about my place? We can all fit in my car. Well, maybe your friend over there won't be too comfortable." I said, pointing at the big, black guy.

He laughed and said, in that deep voice:

"Not a problem, miss, I won't be coming. I'm needed elsewhere."

"Sorry, big guy, but I want to talk to you too. You're coming with us"

That said, I turned and marched outside the door. As soon as I stepped outside, I realized the big guy had disappeared.

"Now what happened to your friend?"

"He told you," Steel said, "he was needed elsewhere."

"I mean, _how_ did he leave?"

No answer from Steel, so I looked at Sapphire.

"We will explain everything as soon as we get to your place."

"All right", I conceded (not that I had much of a choice), "let's go."

So we ended up in my service car, which was clearly unable to transport their big friend. Well, one less problem. We drove the 15 minutes to my apartment in complete silence. I preferred to ask for explanations in the relative privacy of my own place.

Once inside, my little studio felt quite cramped. Numa, my Siamese cat, darted under the bed, and I knew I would see her again only after these strangers had left.

As soon as my guests had made themselves comfortable in my tiny sitting room, I took a seat and started looking at them with my best interrogation stare, saying nothing. This little psychological trick usually works with criminals, but I was not sure it would work with these people at all.

Of course it didn't work with Steel, who returned my gaze with an unperturbed one of his own. Sapphire spared me the effort and started talking:

"I'm afraid we haven't been introduced. You know our names, but we don't know yours. As I told you, my name's Sapphire." She stood and held out her hand, so I instinctively shook it. My language is sometimes rude, but my manners are impeccable.

As soon as I took her proffered hand, though, I felt something probing deep into my body and soul. It wasn't pleasant at all, so I stiffened. Then I heard Sapphire's voice once again whispering into my mind: "Race: human being, earthling. Name: Constance Stunt. Profession: police detective. 60 heartbeats per seconds. Iron-based blood. Age: 39. Life expectancy…"

I jerked my hand away, as if electrocuted.

"Stop it! I don't want you probing into me, and I most certainly don't want to know my life expectancy!"

Sapphire froze, while Steel abruptly stood.

"What did you feel?" he asked.

"You know damn well what I felt: I felt your friend here probing me with her mind and disclosing a lot of personal data. Too personal, if you don't mind." I tried to cast a mean look at Sapphire, but I was too shocked to do a good job.

They exchanged that look again, and again I heard something in my mind.

"Would you please stop? I'm getting a headache. Can't you just talk like anybody else?"

They sat down again, then Sapphire started talking.

"Very well. No more tricks. We'll explain who we are, what we do, and why we're here, but you must promise you will not disclose any of this. To anyone. Agreed?"

"Sure. I suspect no one would believe me, anyway."

Sapphire smiled.

"Probably not. You see, we come from an entirely different place, much farther than the UK, much farther than anything you have ever known before. The name is unimportant. What is important is our mission: we are time agents, we try to settle all irregularities that take place in the time continuum. We are not like you, as you have already surmised: we are elements, or at least we embody what you know as elements. Steel, Sapphire, our friend Lead, and there are others, of course, each with different characteristics and abilities. For instance, I am able to directly manipulate time, like I did earlier, but only a few minutes in the past. Steel, as you witnessed, can drop his body's temperature to absolute zero, although he needs Lead to regain his heat. The threat we just fought is called the time child, and she kills people with her touch: they get old and die in a few minutes. We communicate with our minds. The strangest thing of all, though, is that you can hear us when we "think" to each other, and you even felt my probe."

"Oh, you think _that_'s strange, don't you?"

"I realize this may sound rather unusual for you, but…"

"You have a talent for understatement. Listen, Sapphire, I'm sure you understand that all this doesn't sound just unusual: it sounds downright crazy! Do you expect me to believe it?"

Steel answered:

"We expect you believe you own eyes. Or, if you don't trust them either, believe your own instincts: they seem like the most reasonable part of you."

Now was that an insult or a compliment? Hard to tell. So I chose the most diplomatic answer that came to my mind.

"Well, my instincts are yelling that I should not trust the two of you, that what I witnessed is impossible and that… Hold it, I'm not being truthful: that's what my mind is yelling, but my instincts are telling me that you are not lying. That's so hard to believe, though."

I sat down again and placed both my hands to the sides of my head, as if to keep my thoughts inside and prevent them from going all over the place. I was so confused.

Luckily my two guests did not exchange any more thoughts, so I had the chance to recover a little bit. Just when I started feeling better, the doorbell rang.

"Now what?" I snapped.

When I opened the door, a tall, thin guy was standing there, smiling.

"Hello. My name's Mercury. May I?"

"Sure, come on in, the elementals party's just started!"

The tall guy briskly walked in, not bothering to say hello to his colleagues.

"I was sent by the authority with a message for the three of you."

I laughed. "Of course you have a message: aren't you the God's herald?"

He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his fine face. "I beg your pardon?"

Sapphire explained: "Mercury was the herald of the Olympus' gods in ancient Greek culture."

"Oh. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I was not sent by any god, just the authority controlling us."

"Well, just take a seat and let's hear what your 'authority' has to say about this mess."

Mercury did take a seat, but he didn't start talking, rather he began broadcasting his thoughts to the other two agents. I did not complain, this time, because I was too curious to know what their authority had to say.

-She can't be disposed of: every life is sacred and cannot be sacrificed for the sake of secrecy. The authority wants to cooperate with her.-

Steel raised a hand to hush Mercury, but it was too late: I heard everything.

Mercury was puzzled. I smiled and said: "How nice of your authority: it's not going to 'dispose of' me and wants to cooperate. What if _I_ don't agree?"

As I expected, Steel answered in his usual, no-nonsense tone: "Neither you nor we can pretend we don't exist. We could at least join our mutual skills to help each other."

"I really don't see how I could help you settle your 'time irregularities'. I'm no expert, you know."

"No, you're not, but you're a good police officer and could help us move in this city and maybe speed up certain… procedures often hindered by the bureaucracy your race seems to enjoy so much."

I pretended I did not hear his compliment, but it did touch a chord.

"And what is it in there for me?"

"You would be surprised how many more criminals you would catch with our help."

I laughed. "Yes, I suppose a criminal is still a criminal, whether he steals time, money or lives."

"Precisely. Do we have a deal, then?"

"We do."

Much to my surprise, Steel stood and came to shake my hand. He even smiled at my hesitation.

"I don't have Sapphire's probing ability. I just want to seal our pact."

What the hell, if we were going to cooperate, I could at least trust them, right? So I shook his hand, which turned out to be much warmer than I expected. Something flowed through our contact, though, but was not unpleasant at all: a sense of safety, solidity and strength. Did I get a taste of Steel's soul?


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

About a month after what I now mentally classify as the weirdest experience of my whole life, I started thinking it was just a dream. But I've always been pretty down to earth and not prone to Pindaric flights, so deep down I knew it all happened for real. If I was lucky enough, though, Steel & Co. would forget about me and our little deal and leave me alone.

Wishful thinking.

One day I was running after a son of a bitch who just shot the owner of a little drugstore he was robbing. The man was fast, but I like to keep fit, so I was getting much closer than my two fellow officers. The robber turned around a corner as fast as lightning, and I was just about to turn the same corner, when a strong arm suddenly grabbed my waist and stopped me completely and abruptly, knocking the wind out of me. While I was trying to catch my breath, I drew out my gun and aimed it at the person who just spoiled my pursuit. I found myself looking straight into a pair of grey eyes I knew very well.

"Oh, no!"

"Glad to see you, too." Steel said, with the shadow of a smile on his smug face.

"So you do have a sense of humor, after all. What are you doing, anyway? According to our deal, you were supposed to help me catch the bad guys, not the other way around."

"I'm just saving your life. This particular bad guy is waiting for you to turn that corner, and is ready to shoot you."

I was dumbstruck. "Oh. Well, er, thanks. Do you mind waiting here for a few minutes? I'm going to get him from behind, and I'll be right back."

He didn't bother to answer, so I took that for a yes. I darted in the other direction, still holding my gun.

I spotted the man, who was actually waiting for me behind a garbage bin, aiming his big gun at the corner I was supposed to turn.

I silently approached him from behind. He really didn't have much of a hearing, for he left me get as close as a few inches from his back. I aimed my gun at his head and whispered:

"You better drop that gun, or I'm going to make a neat hole in your empty head."

He gave a start, and almost shot his gun, but I pushed mine against his head, and that persuaded him to drop his weapon and raise his hands.

I handcuffed him, and then waited for my colleagues to reach me. I handed him over to them and quickly ran off to where I hoped Steel was still waiting.

Of course he wasn't there anymore. Oh well, I thought, he will probably come and get his reward sooner or later.

It turned out to be sooner than later.

That evening, while I was eating my home-cooked dinner – which actually turned out to be pretty tasty, much to my surprise – I heard my doorbell rang. Sure enough, Sapphire's smile was behind my peephole.

"Hello there. Come on in."

"Thank you." Sapphire said, as she and her partner stepped into my apartment. She was wearing another blue dress and her hair was a little shorter than the first time we met, but she was still stunningly beautiful. Steel was in his usual grey suit and his hair was just a little bit longer. Approximately one month's growth, so time flowed at the same speed where they lived.

"I don't suppose you eat. Or do you?" I was rather hoping not, because I didn't cook enough food for the three of us.

"We don't, as a rule, eat, but some of us enjoy that activity at times."

"I bet Steel is not among them." I said, while I sat down and resumed eating my dinner.

"You win. Now can we get down to business?"

Jesus, what was in this man that made me want to stick my tongue out at him? Or my gun, for that matter?

"And what 'business' might that be?"

"We need your help to locate a time anomaly."

I almost laughed. "You expect _me_ to find a time anomaly? Isn't that supposed to be your job?"

"We know where the anomaly is, we just cannot get into the building where it's developing. The security is too tight."

"I noticed you have the ability of appearing and disappearing at will, so why don't you just… beam into the building?"

"We don't 'beam', we teleport. And we cannot teleport because as soon as we do, the alarm system goes off and the place fills with guards. Too many potential victims, you see."

I was starting to have a terrible feeling.

"What building are you talking about, exactly?"

"A governmental agency located in Quantico, Virginia."

I almost choked on my food.

"Steel, do you realize you're talking about the FBI headquarters?"

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

I knew I had a very difficult night in front of me, and possibly a very difficult few days, too.

"All right. I need some time to devise a plan."

"Very well." Steel conceded. "We'll be back tomorrow morning."

I didn't have time to answer back: they started walking toward the door, but they disappeared just before reaching it, leaving only a faint trace of Sapphire's perfume. Maybe someday I might get used to that, but that first time I saw them doing that trick, my jaw dropped to the ground.

I spent a sleepless night thinking how to trespass into the FBI headquarters, when I suddenly realized why the two time agents asked for my help: I was a police officer, and had more chances to enter that high-security building than anybody else. Well, except FBI agents, of course.

The morning after, while I was having breakfast, the doorbell rang again. Thankfully I already had my first cup of coffee, so I was almost presentable when I opened the door.

"I have two questions: why do you bother to ring my doorbell, and why do you always come when I'm eating?" I asked my two partners in crime.

Steel didn't take the trouble to answer, so Sapphire explained:

"We don't like being rude and intrude into people's homes. And we wanted to make sure you hadn't left yet, but at the same time we wanted to give you time for your morning routine."

"How considerate of you. Can I explain my plan while I finish my breakfast?"

"Of course."

So I started to explain how I wanted to personally deliver my application to become an FBI agent to the Quantico HR department. My visitor ID would prevent alarms from going off. Once inside, I would get lost and happen to end up in the room they wanted to trespass into. I'm very good at picking locks, so that wouldn't be much of a problem.

"What will I find in that room?"

The two agents exchanged a meaningful look, but I did not hear anything whispering in my mind. They were learning.

Sapphire answered my question.

"There will be some sort of a tunnel, opening in one wall of the room."

"A tunnel?" I was puzzled. "Inside a room?"

Steel said: "Yes, and you better stay away from it. It tends to suck people in, and it doesn't like to give them back."

"Is it a time tunnel?"

"Yes. Very dangerous."

"I believe you. All right, I promise I will stay away from it and just let you two handle your own problem. Now I'll go to the airport and catch the first flight to Quantico. I suppose I will meet you there."

"Yes. As soon as you 'get lost' in the building, we will show you the way to that room."

"Now I suppose you will…."

The two agents just disappeared, not even bothering to move toward the door.

"… teleport away."

The flight to Quantico was uneventful and pretty short. I took a taxi from the airport to the FBI headquarters and went through the surveillance routine: explain the reason of my visit, deposit my gun (that was the hardest part), go through the metal detector and ask directions at the information booth. Of course I didn't follow those directions, instead I looked for a very quiet and very unattended corridor not monitored by any videocameras and waited for my friends, who promptly appeared out of thin air.

As usual, Steel got right down to business:

"Follow us."

We took the elevator and went up another two floors. When we got out, we were in luck: the corridor was empty. We walked a few feet and then stopped in front of a locked door. I took out my little lock-picking kit (all the pieces are plastic, so they get through metal detectors) and started working at the door. It only took thirty seconds to pick it: looks like the FBI don't spend too much on quality locks. Once I opened the door, I stepped aside: better let the pros handle the situation. Steel and Sapphire entered the room with a resolute expression on their faces. They left the door partially open, so I could peep inside. There really was a tunnel opening on the facing wall. It was sucking all the objects in the room and was clearly trying to suck in also my two friends. Looking straight at it made me feel sick, so I looked at what the two agents were doing: strange enough, Sapphire was reading from a book she picked up from the floor, but she was reading backwards. Steel was standing protectively in front of her, motionless, his fair hair ruffled by an alien wind. I started hearing their thoughts again, but I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. The wind got stronger and the objects started flying faster toward the tunnel. I saw Steel barely withstanding its force. Sapphire yelled: "Steel! You're getting too close!"

"The tunnel has got a person, the man who was working in this office. I must go inside and get him out."

That sounded like a bad idea to me, but then again I was no expert. But Sapphire's horrified expression confirmed my fear.

"You might not be able to come back. I cannot help you once you're inside."

"I will manage. If I'm not back in half an hour, start reading that book backwards again."

That said, he stopped fighting the wind's attraction and disappeared inside the tunnel.

There was a sickening sucking sound and then everything vanished just like that. An eerie silence replaced the roaring sound of the wind. Sapphire stood there, looking quite unhappy and very, very worried.

"I guess that's not how it was supposed to work out, is it?"

"No, it's not. But it's not over yet. Let's give Steel a chance. You can wait outside the room, if you want."

I was moved by her thoughtfulness.

"Don't worry, Sapphire: I don't know enough of this tunnel to be dutifully scared of it. I'll wait here with you until Steel comes back." I didn't feel like adding '_If_ he comes back'.

So we sat on the ground, since the tunnel had sucked all the chairs that were previously in the room, and prepared ourselves for a short, albeit difficult wait.

I took advantage of the time we had to gently question Sapphire. What the hell, I'm a detective, after all: I'm exceedingly curious.

"So tell me: you and Steel have been working together for a long time?"

Despite her obvious concern, she managed one of her charming smiles.

"Yes. Longer than you might think."

"A winning team, eh?"

"So far." The smile disappeared.

Oops, wrong remark. I mentally kicked myself in the butt and changed tactics. I wanted to distract her from Steel, not remind her of his predicament.

"Are you two just working partners, or did you move your relationship to a more personal level?"

"Why do you ask? Are you interested in Steel?"

I almost laughed in her face.

"Good grief, no! He's the last man I would consider as a potential mate!"

"You'd be surprised. So why do you ask?"

"I'm good at judging people, you know, especially when they try to hide something. I've noticed how the two of you interact, how you worry for each other, and how you look at each other. And, above all, Steel is much nicer with you than with everybody else."

"Not always. But, yes, we have a very close relationship, one that cannot be classified either as working or as personal. We are very fond of each other, but we must work together, so even if we feel anything deeper, we must sacrifice it in the name of duty. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same: all the men I know are fellow officers, so we know that a relationship would be detrimental to our job. Plus, I'm kind of a loner, so I'd rather have my cat to keep me company at home: she has the lovely habit of never disagreeing!"

We chatted pleasantly for half an hour, but then Sapphire grew really worried.

"He should be back by now. Something went wrong. I'm going to read the book backwards again. Be careful, that will probably open the tunnel."

And, sure enough, as soon as she started reading backwards, the tunnel opened and the wind resumed. But this time we could see two figures at the other end: one was Steel, and he was clutching an unconscious man. He was trying to drag him toward the exit, but he clearly couldn't defeat the wind's force. He had a rather desperate expression on his face, and that made me stir into action. I told Sapphire: "Wait here. I'm going to help him."

She shouted: "No, the tunnel will suck you in, too."

"I'm counting on it. Just keep that blasted thing open."

As soon as I took a few steps forward, the wind roared even louder and pulled me toward the tunnel. I didn't oppose it, and immediately found myself holding on to Steel, who was now fighting to keep the three of us as close to the right end of the tunnel as possible. I tried to balance myself, got hold of the unconscious man and pushed him towards the exit with all my strength. Unsuccessfully, of course. Steel was too exhausted to talk, but I could read in his eyes what he thought about my plan.

Despite our combined efforts, and despite Steel's strength, which I knew was outstanding, the tunnel was dragging us deeper and deeper.

I was beginning to regret my decision to help Steel, when suddenly the tunnel made a strange sound, almost like a cough. The wind stopped pushing us toward the bottom and reversed its direction, virtually spitting us outside.

We all landed hard on the office ground, and a few seconds later the tunnel closed. The sudden silence was almost painful to my ears. Sapphire immediately came to help us up, and asked: "What happened?"

Steel was looking at me with a baffled expression.

"I guess our detective wasn't very palatable. Another one of her unexpected qualities."

"You mean it actually choked on me?"

"Yes, and it spitted us out."

Sapphire was smiling: "Congratulations, detective: you just defeated the time tunnel, one of our toughest opponents."

"Well, I disgusted it more than anything else!"

Now even Steel was smiling, although he looked exceedingly tired: his hair was disheveled, his suit was all crumpled and torn in a few places, his face was furrowed with wrinkles and he had black bags under his eyes. And he even had a few days' beard that I was pretty sure he didn't have before.

"Jeez, Steel, what happened inside that tunnel? You look exhausted."

"Time flows differently in there. You too would look exhausted after a week trying to defeat that wind and preventing it from eating up that man."

I was dumbfounded: "A week? You spent a week in there?"

"Approximately, yes."

I was beginning to see him in a different light. He didn't hesitate to throw himself in that awful tunnel to save a life, and he even held on for one whole week without letting go. He might not have a sparkling personality, but he sure was tough.

"We must go, now." Sapphire said. "Steel needs rest."

I looked at the still unconscious man.

"What about him? Shall we leave him on the ground like that?"

"Yes. He's out of danger and the trigger has been defused. Our assignment has been accomplished." Steel said. And then he added, almost as an afterthought: "Thank you. You have been very brave."

I was so taken aback by hearing Steel thanking me and even complimenting me, that all I could do was stare with my mouth open while the two agents disappeared for good.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Two weeks after what I now call "the tunnel assignment", I was finally relaxing at one of those BBQ parties policemen like to throw on Sundays: lots of hot dogs, hamburgers, beer, and music. I was mostly enjoying the latter, since I was playing my acoustic guitar, my favorite hobby. I remember it was September, and it was late morning, so I was playing and singing 'September morn', one my favorite songs by Neil Diamond. A couple of colleagues were singing with me, and I was really having a great time. Then, for no reason whatsoever, my thoughts went to my two elemental friends. Now why would I think about them in the middle of a song? I looked inconspicuously around, but there was no trace of them. However, I did notice a somewhat familiar face. I knew I had met that man before. He was tall and thin, and rather good looking. Black-haired and blue-eyed, he almost looked like a 'black Irish'. The minute he looked back at me, I remembered who he was: Mercury, the authority's herald. Uh oh, I thought, looks like something's cooking, and it's not the hamburgers.

I ended my song, then told my colleagues that my fingers needed some rest, and I unobtrusively approached the elemental.

"Mercury."

"Ms. Stunt, it's always a pleasure."

"I must say your manners are much better than Steel's."

That made him smile.

"He's sometimes rough, but he's one of our most capable agents."

"Oh, I've no doubts: I've seen him in action. So, what's up?"

The charming smile disappeared.

"I'm afraid we need your help again. You see, Sapphire and Steel are both being held prisoners by the transients."

"Who?"

"The transient beings are very similar to us, but they have a totally different purpose: they strive to cause chaos in the time continuum, while we endeavor to put it in order. Since the time the elementals were created, the transients have been there to fight them."

"And now they have Sapphire and Steel, you said?"

"Yes. They have been very clever: it's not easy to catch two of our best agents. Silver was with them, but for some reason he was not captured. If you agree to help us, he will explain the situation in full details."

"Of course I agree, although I don't see how I could help: if all the elementals cannot find a way to set them free, what chances have I got?"

"You see, our mutual friends have told us about your, uhm, unique talents. We are sure you would be the surprise element we need to defeat the transients."

"Very well. Let me grab my guitar, say goodbye to my friends, then we can go. Oh, by the way, where are we going?"

"What about your place?"

Yes, that would make sense: I could not teleport, therefore I couldn't go to their headquarters, or whatever it was they used as a meeting place.

As soon as we got to my little studio in Marina del Rey, another man was standing outside my door: he also was tall and thin, but he had thick reddish hair, and he was definitely overdressed.

"You must be Silver."

"I am. I am also very pleased to meet you, Ms. Stunt."

Why were all these guys much nicer than Steel? Was he the only rude elemental?

"Just call me Connie. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable."

As usual, when my cat Numa saw two strangers trespassing into her territory, she ran under the bed.

Mercury said: "Pretty creature."

"That's Numa, my cat: she doesn't like people, as a rule, and she would scratch and bite if you tried to stroke her. Very unsociable."

"Reminds me of Steel." Was Silver's murmured comment. I couldn't agree more.

We all sat down, and Silver told me what happened to his two colleagues, how the transients tricked them and how they were now being held in a pocket out of time and out of space. The elementals were not able to find it, nor to communicate with the two prisoners.

I asked: "How do you expect me to find them? I can only move in my own physical world."

Silver answered: "That's not entirely true. You can sense things beyond your own world. You established a mental contact with both Sapphire and Steel, and you're, well, tuned to their minds' wavelengths. I have a little device that could help you amplify your mind's ability to reach out to them. You are human, so your brain patterns will go through the barrier they have raised around that place."

"What kind of device?"

Silver pulled a tiny curvilinear gadget out of his pocket. It almost looked like one of those ergonomic earphones. "This device. It's quite harmless, really, but it has to be implanted on you."

I didn't like the sound of it, not one bit.

"Implanted where?"

"Over your left eye."

"No way. You're not gonna touch my eyes."

Silver's voice was reassuring. "It's not going to touch your eyes. It will be on your eyebrow, if you will. It just needs to sit as close to your frontal left lobe as possible."

I was still doubtful. Mercury tried to convince me.

"Sapphire and Steel need your help. They might not be able to come back, ever again. You're their last hope."

"Well, if you put it that way, how could I refuse?" Yes, I know, I'm easily convinced, but what the hell, I'm a police woman, aren't I? I'm supposed to 'serve and protect'.

The two agents' bright smiles were a nice reward.

"Thank you, we really appreciate it."

"What do you need to implant that thing on me?"

"Nothing, really, just close your eyes and stay absolutely still. I will connect it directly to your front lobe."

Dear God, that sounded dreadful, but it was too late to draw back. So I sat completely still and let Silver do his job. 'Look at the bright side,' I said to myself, 'you might end up looking like Seven of Nine!'

I needed to think about something soothing to calm down, and the first thing that came to my mind were Steel's grey eyes. That was ridiculous, but before trying to think about something else, I realized I was actually relaxing, so I kept thinking about them. And then I realized I was also thinking about his face, and Sapphire's, too. Slowly, I saw both my friends, but they were so far away I couldn't really make out the details of their figures. They were sitting at a table, and the place they were in looked like a bar. No, it wasn't a bar. It was a gas station's small refreshment area.

The details got gradually sharper. I could make out their faces. They both looked worried, and quite helpless. I heard Silver's voice in my head: "Concentrate: you must communicate with them. Mercury and I will help you boost your mental voice."

I tried to focus as hard as I could. I called the two agents' names repeatedly, and every time I heard my mental voice getting louder. Just when I started to feel too tired to continue, I saw Steel jerk his head sideways, as if he actually heard something. Sapphire too looked like she was hearing me. They both concentrated on my voice, and it finally came through.

"Detective, is that you?"

"Yes, Steel. I'm here with Mercury and Silver. Hold on, I'm on my way to help you."

Steel's mental shout almost made me jump. "NO! You must not try to reach us. You would end up in the same trap. Stay where you are, you cannot help us."

"Your friends here seem to think otherwise." Now that we were connected, I knew what Silver and Mercury had in mind: they wanted to combine the four agents' powers to teleport me to that gas station. I wasn't entirely sure it would work, but I had no choice: I had to trust their judgment.

Sapphire started focusing, her eyes turning the brightest blue. Steel had no choice but to join in, and in a few moments we were all concentrating so hard it physically hurt.

After a few minutes, which for me lasted hours, I heard a loud snap, and felt as if my mind had been wrenched from my body. I shut my eyes, feeling very nauseated. When I opened them again, I was laying on the gas station's floor. As soon as I raised my head, my stomach gave up any attempt to keep my last hot dog where it belonged, and I threw up like a rookie watching her first bloody crime scene.

Sapphire rushed at my side, a worried expression on her fine features, while Steel didn't move from his seat, and just cast me a very displeased look.

"I told you not to come. Now you're trapped, too."

"Yes, I'm feeling better now, thank you."

Sapphire helped me up and handed me a glass of water, smiling apologetically.

"Don't listen to him. He's just worried about you."

"He looks like he's mad at me more than anything else."

"I am. Now make yourself comfortable: you're going to spend quite a long time here. Probably forever."

I was too tired to argue, but I could never resist a good quarrel.

"Listen, Steel, if your friends sent me here, it means they thought I could be somewhat useful."

"And, specifically, how do they intend to proceed?"

Now that was a very good question. Too bad I didn't have an answer, so I kept silent.

"That's what I thought." He commented dryly.

Sapphire noticed I was still feeling nauseated.

"Are you all right?"

"Afraid not. My stomach is still upset, and I'm developing a head-splitting headache."

Sapphire touched my forehead. Her eyes once again started glowing, and she said: "She doesn't belong here: this place is damaging her. She should not stay here."

That drew Steel's attention: "I knew it." He sounded more concerned than angry now, though, and that was what worried me the most. "We must try to send her back, before it's too late."

Before I could disagree, a man entered the place. He looked quite mad, and his eyes were glowing much like Sapphire's, but in a lighter blue.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" His voice was as disagreeable as his looks.

Steel tried to prevent him from approaching me, but he couldn't stop the man, who, much to my surprise, easily disposed of the time agent, and brutally shoved him to the ground with an ease that spoke volumes of his strength. Steel didn't get up again, and looked like he was in pain. I regretted I hadn't thought of carrying my gun along, but it probably would have been useless on such a powerful entity. He slowly got closer, but I stood my ground. I knew he could break my neck as easily as I could snap a breadstick, but I'd be damned if I showed him how frightened I was. Sapphire was paralyzed and looked quite helpless. I knew she could not help me, so it was up to me. I tried my best bluff.

"You'd better not touch me, buddy. You have no idea what it could happen."

The man didn't look too concerned. He just smiled a very mean smile and kept moving toward me. He raised his hand as if he really wanted to break my neck. I reacted instinctively and raised my left arm, as if to protect my face. The moment our limbs came into contact, something sparked between us, and I was hurled violently backwards. I fell hard on the floor, dazed. The man was in a much worse shape: his whole body was shining an ominous shade of blue, and he was yelling in pain. Then, with a loud crack, he disappeared. I somehow managed to mutter: "I told you.", then everything got foggy. I felt nauseated again, but this time I did not fight it. I eagerly surrendered to the darkness that was claiming me.

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you know you're dreaming, and you want to wake up, but somehow you can't? Well, that was exactly how I was feeling.

I knew I was laying somewhere comfortable and familiar, but I couldn't open my eyes. I heard voices close by. I tried to concentrate on them, until I finally managed to understand the meaning of the words.

A male voice was saying: "You shouldn't have risked her life. She came too close. Do you realize how valuable she is to the authority?"

Another male voice retorted: "Listen, Steel, it all ended up as planned. We knew she was incompatible with that environment, and that meant that she was harmful to the beings that created it. It worked, didn't it?"

I could tell the first voice was really angry. "Yes, but don't you dare risk her life again to save ours. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, you have. And, by the way, you're welcome."

I heard a female voice trying to pacify the two men: "Enough of this. We are free, and she's not seriously hurt. So why don't we let Silver and Mercury go back to their business? We must take care of her now."

I heard murmured consents, then all was silent. I felt myself slipping away again, and I didn't fight it.

I was awakened by a gentle "meow" right next to my left ear. I turned my head and slowly opened my eyes, and I was rewarded by a most welcome sight: my cat Numa was purring at me.

"Hello sweetie. It's good to see you."

I sensed someone's look on me. I turned my head to the other side and saw Steel looking at me with a barely disguised smile.

"Welcome back, detective. You slept for quite a while."

"I guess I needed some rest. What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"I remember everything up until the transient touched me, then it's all black."

"You and he were charged with opposite charges: you destroyed him with your mere touch."

"Cool. It worked, then. Silver was right."

Steel's face was now somber.

"Yes, but you risked your life. That place was sucking up your vital energy: if you stayed there any longer it would have destroyed you. That's why you were feeling so sick."

"It was worth it: you two are free to fight your time anomalies again. Where's Sapphire?"

"She had business to attend to. You would call it 'make an official report'."

I smiled: "I see. Not so different, our worlds, are they?"

"Luckily, they are very different. How do you feel now?"

I raised my back and tried sitting on the bed. It didn't go too bad, although my head started spinning again. Steel helped me, then sat on the side of the bed, looking intensely at me. I felt quite uncomfortable under that scrutiny.

"What?"

"You must promise you will never run such a risk again."

I was moved by his concern, but I couldn't make that promise.

"Listen, Steel, I do appreciate your thoughtfulness, but you must understand that I risk my life every day at work, so what difference does it make if I risk it one more time?"

"It makes a difference to me." He said, in an uncharacteristically gentle voice, and he even raised his hand to touch my cheek. "Take care of yourself." And he disappeared, leaving a positively dumbstruck woman behind.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

The crime scene was a bloody mess: a man had been bled to death, and blood was splattered all over the room. His throat had been slit with a knife, but the worst thing was that, according to the coroner, most of the blood was missing. It wasn't in the body, and it wasn't on the walls either. The only obvious reason was that the killer took it. Or, God help us, drank it.

I was contemplating that terrible scene, alone, trying to think why it reminded me of something, when a voice behind me made me jump a good foot.

"We can help you catch him, you know."

"For Heaven's sake, Steel, don't sneak up on me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, but I needed to talk to you while you were alone."

"You said you could help me catch the killer?"

Another voice from behind me made jump again.

"Yes. It's not the first time he kills."

"Would you stop doing that? Can't you just give me a call when you want to talk?"

Sapphire just beamed her sweet smile at me, while Steel said:

"It's rather urgent. This particular killer has already murdered five other people all over the country."

"Dear God. A serial killer. That's why this scene reminds me of something. But why are you willing to help me? And how do you know he's killed before?"

"We know because he's been tricked by time into believing that drinking his victims' blood will keep him young."

"Just great. Do you expect me to explain to my captain that our killer is a blasted vampire?"

"You can explain what you want, but you must convince him to send you to Nashville, Tennessee. That's where he's going to hit next."

"How do you know?"

"We have our methods. But we need you to chase him. Whenever we get too close, time itself senses our presence and warns him, and he flees again. Since you're a human being, your presence will not be noticed until it's too late. You can easily deal with a human criminal, and if time interferes, _we_ will be there to stop it."

"Wait a minute. If you know where he is and when he will strike again, why don't you just teleport _before_ he kills and stop him?"

"We cannot interfere when human beings are involved. We can only stop time threats, but not if they are carried out by a human."

Well, that explained why they needed my help. I didn't need much time to make up my mind.

"All right. After all, I've always wanted to visit Nashville: they have the nicest guitar shops, you know!"

One day later, after easily convincing my captain that we were dealing with a serial killer (hey, I'm a good detective, you know: my boss trusts me completely), I was walking around downtown Nashville, admiring the beautiful guitars gleaming in the windows, when I suddenly saw a pair of beautiful blue eyes looking at me from behind one of those windows. Sapphire. I entered the shop. While I was there, I couldn't resist trying one of those gorgeous instruments. While I was playing and drooling over a stunning – and exceedingly expensive – Martin, she inconspicuously approached me.

"You play very well."

I smiled: "It's easy to play well on a very good instrument."

"I hate to pull you away from it, but Steel is waiting for us in a bar not far from here. Our man is supposed to arrive in a short time, and he must not find us there. You will follow him and, hopefully, he will lead you to his hideout."

I reluctantly put the guitar down. "All right, let's go."

The bar was one of those typical places where alcohol and blues are both plentiful, as well as sinister faces. Sapphire didn't get in with me and just disappeared. Steel was waiting for me inside and briefly described the man to me, then promptly left. There weren't many women, so I sort of drew too much unwanted attention. I had to decline at least three differently and creatively stated indecent proposals, but I'm no schoolgirl. The view of my suitably displayed gun also helped. When all the machos in the place finally got the message, I was able to sit at a table in a particularly unlit corner, with an untouched beer in front of me. I didn't have to wait long. Approximately fifteen minutes later my man entered the place. He was rather ordinary-looking, and his earnest face perfectly hid a murderous and merciless personality. He had a drink, chatted a little with a couple of people, cast a curious but uninterested look at me, and then left. I followed him. I'm usually pretty good at tailing, but I needed to change my appearance, since he already knew my face. In my way out from the bar, I swiftly picked up my rather long and curly black hair with a rubber band and hid it under a cap, wore a pair of large and dark sunglasses to disguise my green eyes, and turned my reversible jacket over. When I was walking on Nashville's streets again, I looked like a different woman. Or so I hoped.

The streets were not crowded, so it was quite easy to follow my man, although I had to be extra careful, since I could be easily spotted. I noticed he made a couple of phone calls while he was walking. Too bad I was too far away to hear what he said.

We walked for less than ten minutes, and then the man entered a tall apartment building. I was forced to get nearer, since I didn't know which floor and apartment he was going to. Luckily he took the stairs, so I was able to silently follow him from one floor behind. He stopped at the fourth floor. As soon as he turned a corner, I ran to see which door was being closed. It was the fifth door on the right. I was about to turn and leave the place to call my elemental friends, when suddenly somebody grabbed me unceremoniously from behind. It was a man, as he was much stronger than me. He caught me in a karate move that didn't allow me any movements, unless I broke an arm to get free. I felt a cold knife against my exposed neck, and then I heard a hoarse voice whispering in my ear: "No sudden moves, my dear, or your blood will stain that nice jacket of yours."

I realized I made two fatal mistakes: I was spotted while pursuing the serial killer, and I didn't contemplate the existence of an accomplice. Before I could quickly devise an emergency plan, I saw the fifth door on the right opening again and the murderer getting out with another, rather lethal looking knife. He lost no time in questioning me: he just approached as fast as he could and thrust the knife into my unprotected stomach. I instinctively closed my eyes, preparing for the deadly blow, but I didn't feel anything painful stabbing my mid-section. I did feel a pressure, though, so I opened my eyes to see what had prevented the knife from killing me. It was a hand, which oddly enough was stopping the blade without being pierced by it. Startled, I looked at the other end of the arm, and saw Steel. He looked like he was in pain, but also very, very upset. His eyes were the same color of a stormy ocean. Uh oh, I thought, I know that look. Now all hell is going to get loose.

And, sure enough, it did. With his other hand, Steel grabbed the blade and broke it in two and, before the startled assailant could react, gave him a shove that thrust him against the wall with the force of a hurricane. The man fell to the floor, unconscious. The other man tried to flee, but as soon as he turned, he saw Sapphire standing in front of him. He instinctively tried to stab her, but couldn't complete his move: his hand stopped before the knife could reach the woman's body and he kept repeating the same action over and over again. Sapphire's eyes were glowing like the jewel she was named after. Steel reached him from behind and knocked him out with a nice blow to the back of his neck. The man fell without a peep.

I promptly handcuffed the two killers, still shaken by what I just witnessed to. I couldn't help but ask Steel: "How did you do that?"

He was unruffled. "Do what?"

"That thing with your hand."

He answered me with another question: "What material are knives made of?"

"Why, stainless steel, of course. Oh, I see. That's your territory, isn't it?"

He just smiled his peculiar half smile.

Sapphire said: "Sorry, we didn't know he had an accomplice. Anyway, you will find enough evidence in their apartment to guarantee a life sentence. But I warn you: it won't be pleasant."

"Thanks, but don't worry. That's _my_ territory. I'll handle it from now on. Do you think these two slaughterers will be contacted by your time entity again?"

"Not if they end up in prison for life. They would be no use to it anymore."

"Good. Than let me thank you for your invaluable help in stopping two very dangerous sociopaths who could have killed God knows how many more people in..." I realized I was talking to an empty corridor: the two time agents, as usual, had disappeared without saying goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

You know what they say about seeing your whole life before you die? Well, that's not always true. Sometimes you just think about missed opportunities, and about the people you leave behind.

I was laying in a very dark, very filthy and quite bad smelling alley, late at night, just after having shot a criminal I was pursuing, who unfortunately managed to return the favor. The only difference between us was that I was taking longer to die. He shot me in the side. I was pretty sure the bullet didn't hit any vital organs, but I was bleeding profusely. I perfectly knew I couldn't last much longer without help, so I was trying to call my colleagues, who I knew weren't too far, but my radio wasn't working. Nor was my cell phone, so I couldn't even call an ambulance. All those electronic devices failing me were suspicious, but then I couldn't think very clearly: the blood loss was taking its toll. I was trying to plug the wound with my jacket, but it was a very poor attempt: I was quickly getting too weak to apply enough pressure.

It figures, I thought: now that I finally had a good reason to enjoy my work, I had to die in the line of duty. I closed my eyes and murmured: "I'm sorry, my elemental friends, I will not help you again. I hope you will miss me."

I heard a voice speaking softly and very close to my left ear: "We won't, because you will not leave us." I couldn't turn to see who it was, but I knew that voice very well: Steel.

I was gently lifted by a pair of strong arms, which deposited me on Steel's lap. My head was now resting on the hollow of his arm. A definite improvement from that hard pavement. Now I could also look up at him without effort.

"I thought you couldn't interfere with human actions. You are not supposed to save me."

"We are, because you are trapped in a time pocket. Didn't you wonder why all your devices have stopped working? And your watch, too. Time found out about you, and it's trying to destroy you. Your colleagues cannot help you, and we cannot call an ambulance, because we are out of your time. We will have to remove that bullet ourselves."

"We? Where's Sapphire? I can't see her."

A deep male voice answered my question: "She's not here. This time _I _came along, detective."

"Lead. Good to see you again, big guy."

My huge friend's bright smile was a sight for sore eyes.

"We will take care of you, but I'm afraid it will hurt." The smile disappeared. "You see, I will try to pull that bullet out by exciting its lead components and guiding them out of your body. That will hopefully stop the bleeding. Once you're out of danger, time will flow normally again and your colleagues will find you and call an ambulance."

I was feeling too weak to answer. I heard Steel saying: "Do whatever you need to do, but do it fast: she won't last much longer." Dear old Steel, tactful as ever.

Lead gently exposed the wound, than started to mentally search for the bullet inside my flesh. His probing was painful, and I started moaning. Steel took my hand and squeezed. "Don't think about what Lead's doing. Try to focus on something else."

I managed to open my eyes and look at him. I said, in a very weak voice: "Then talk to me, Steel."

I could tell it was a very difficult task for him: he was not used to give comfort to people in pain. Or possibly dying, for that matter. But I appreciated his efforts.

"You must hold on, detective. Think about all those who need you: your cat Numa, your fellow officers, us. The authority has a high opinion of you, you know?"

My voice sounded faint to my own ears: "And what's _your_ opinion?"

He was silent for a moment, and looked at me with those piercing eyes which, odd enough, were now darker, almost blue.

"I think you are an invaluable help."

I was disappointed. "Is that all I am to you? Just a little helper?"

His eyes grew softer. "No. You are much more than that: you are a brave woman who doesn't hesitate to risk her life to save others, who saved _our_ lives twice already. You are very precious to us, detective. To me."

I didn't have time to feel moved by his words: Lead's mind found the bullet and started pulling it to the surface. The pain was unbearable.

I yelled. "Lead! Please, don't."

My big friend was so concentrated his forehead was perspiring. He said, in an apologetic voice: "I cannot stop now. I'm very close. Steel, keep her mind away from what I'm doing."

Steel hugged me tighter, and with his free hand started stroking my face. Boy, that worked: I was so startled I stopped thinking about my predicament and started focusing on the sensations his hand was stirring. I looked up at him, trying to read the expression on his face. He looked worried, all right, but there was something else in his eyes. I was sure I misinterpreted it, since it looked like fondness.

The bullet moved again in my flesh, and I gasped, but I didn't want to close my eyes. I kept looking at Steel as if I could draw some of his strength from him.

He managed a sweet smile and said, in a very soft voice: "You have beautiful eyes."

"Look… who's talking." Speaking was getting too much for what little strength I had left.

"Shhh, don't talk. Spare your energy."

The bullet moved again, and I yelled.

Lead murmured: "It's almost there. Hold on a few seconds more."

I knew I didn't have a few seconds. They looked like hours to me, and my resistance was over.

Steel's voice was in my mind, now, asking: "May I?"

Before I could make out the meaning of his question, his lips were on mine. They were warm, and so very soft. The bullet chose that moment to get out, a million white dots exploded in my brain, and I blacked out.

ooo

It took me many long minutes to open my eyes after I regained consciousness. I knew I was laying in a hospital bed long before I could see it, since the disinfectant smell was unmistakable. Good, that meant I was alive.

I had an IV in my arm, but luckily no airways nor other invading tubes. My side was throbbing, but it was definitely bearable. I was probably under some type of pain killer. There were many bunches of flowers all over the room. My colleagues brought them, no doubt. How sweet.

I was curious to know how much time had elapsed since the shooting, but it wasn't important enough to summon a nurse, and there was nobody I could ask to. Or was there? You never know, when you have elemental friends who can appear out of thin air at will. So I turned my head and, sure enough, one of those friends was sitting on the only chair in the room: Sapphire. She beamed her beautiful smile at me, and I tried to smile back, but I probably only managed a grimace.

She said, as if she had read my thoughts: "You've been here for approximately 24 hours. You're out of danger, and you are recovering very quickly. You will be out of here before you know it."

I nodded, since I still didn't trust my own voice, and tried to talk, but the effort only made me so tired I closed my eyes again and fell asleep.

ooo

I remember doctors and friends coming and going that day. Sometimes I was alert, other times it felt like I was daydreaming. At night, I was feeling much better, but still very tired. I was sitting on my bed, and the IV had gone. I was trying to read a book, but I couldn't really focus on the words. I kept thinking about the last few moments I remembered of my incident. The more I thought about it, the more I was persuaded that it was just a dream of a blacking out mind.

And yet…

I felt his presence long before I could make out his figure in the darkest side of the room. Somehow, Steel sensed I was thinking about him. He approached the bed and stood there a good minute, silently looking at me. I returned his stare, unable to say anything. He broke the ice.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Thanks to you." I said in a very coarse voice.

"I didn't do much. You should thank Lead."

I smiled. "Lead removed that bullet, but you helped me withstand the pain."

"The strength was in you, I just helped you find it."

"Well, I must say you were quite motivating!"

"What do you remember?"

I averted my eyes. "Everything, I'm afraid."

He was puzzled. "Afraid?"

"Yes. I remember what you said and did to keep my mind away from the pain. Very clever."

He cast me a quizzical look, but he didn't answer, so I went on. "Anyway, I'm glad you did. I'm still here, and I'll soon be up and running after the bad guys again. What can I do to return the favor?"

He took my hand and kissed it. "Just get better as fast as you can. We will soon need you again."

Then he was gone.

ooo

I knew I now had a very difficult task in front of me: I had to reconsider my opinion on Steel. Up until two days before, I was convinced he was a reckless son of a gun who just cared about his assignments, and who didn't think twice before using people to achieve his goals, not bothering to say 'please' or 'thank you' to anyone, not even his partner. I knew he was very brave and capable, of course, but that had to be a prerequisite for time agents.

And, above all, I was positive he didn't like me. I had always felt as if our cooperation was imposed on him by his authority, since he never failed to show me his contempt during the missions we faced together. But one thing I was sure of: he wasn't false. He wouldn't show concern or fondness if he didn't feel any. If he cared about someone, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, it would show. Just look at his relationship with Sapphire: his love for her was pretty noticeable, although he always did his best to conceal it.

So, after all, maybe he didn't dislike me so much. Which was good, but forced me to revise what _I_ felt for him. He did earn quite a lot of points for saving my life, but I still thought he was the most unsympathetic person I ever met. And yet, when I was bleeding to death in that filthy alley, he managed to stir unexpected feelings in me, keeping my mind away from my predicament and allowing Lead to save my life. Whether he did it because he really cared about me or once again just to achieve his goal was unimportant. The important thing was that now I knew I could put my life in his capable and dependable hands. And on that comforting thought, I finally fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

After one week in hospital, going home felt exceptionally nice. Mike, the colleague who took care of my cat Numa, drove me there. Before leaving, he said: "Oh, I almost forgot: that guy you met at the BBQ a couple of weeks ago? Black hair and blue eyes?"

I knew he was speaking about Mercury.

"What about him?"

"Is his your new flame?"

"NO! What makes you think that?"

"Sorry, no need to ruffle your feathers. I was just wondering, since he's pretty good looking, and you're very attractive, and you left with him…"

"Mike!"

"…and he gave me this note for you…"

"Note? What note?"

"This note." And he handed me a small sealed envelope.

I sent Mike away hurriedly.

"He's just a friend. But don't worry; I'll keep you posted if anything changes."

"I'm counting on it. Take care."

After feeding Numa, I couldn't wait any longer to read Mercury's note. It was just a few lines, written in a neat handwriting, but they hit me like a punch to the stomach.

"Detective Stunt, I know you just recovered from a very bad experience, but I need your help. I strongly suspect Sapphire and Steel are about to betray the authority, and you are my only hope to prove it. Meet me at the Marina International Hotel's bar tomorrow at 9:00 am. Thank you. Mercury."

That couldn't be! I was sure Mercury was totally wrong, but the least I could do was to listen to what he had to say.

I tried not to think about his suspicions all night, but I wasn't very successful, so I was up very early in the morning. I decided to eat my breakfast at the hotel while waiting for Mercury.

He arrived half an hour earlier, at 8:30. To check out the place, I supposed. I would have done the same.

He sat at my table looking suspiciously around.

"Detective. Thank you for coming. I trust you're feeling better?"

"Yes, Mercury, thank you, but your note really amazed me. Are you sure of your accusations? They are very serious, you know."

"Oh, I'm very aware of that, but I'm also quite positive. You see, I've overheard a conversation they were having while they thought they were alone."

"And what were they saying?"

"Steel was trying to talk Sapphire into leaving the authority and join the transients."

"WHAT?"

A few faces turned toward our table, so I controlled myself.

"Mercury, that can't be! I'm sure you misunderstood their words."

He was starting to get upset.

"I didn't! I'm telling you: they are planning to betray."

I needed to calm him down before drawing too much unwanted attention.

"All right. Let's suppose you're right. What do you expect me to do?"

"You have been cooperating with them on a regular basis, so you have earned their trust. If you discreetly question one of them, or both, you might find out something."

"What should I do, summon Steel for a nice chat – his favorite pastime – and ask him: 'Oh, incidentally, are you and Sapphire planning to join the transients?"

"Of course not. I'm sure you can question people with far more subtlety than that. Just try to find out what they're up to, please."

He looked so distraught, I had to humor him.

"All right, I'll try. But I cannot guarantee anything. They're my friends, you know, and they have saved my life. I cannot ignore that."

"I understand. Just let me know what your instincts tell you when you talk to them. I have to go now. I will check with you again in a couple of days."

I left the rest of my breakfast untouched: I was too upset to eat.

ooo

I mulled over the issue all day, but I couldn't come up with an acceptable excuse to call the two time agents. Besides the fact that they weren't exactly on the yellow pages. Yet there had to be a way to summon them without me being shot or in hospital.

As it happened, I didn't need an excuse: the issue resolved by itself.

I was sleeping rather peacefully in my bed, that night, still recovering from the recent wound, when something awoke me. It wasn't a sound, more like a vibration in my bones, accompanied by the awareness that I wasn't alone anymore. Maybe my elemental friends had teleported into my house? Weird, though: they always took the trouble to ring my doorbell or somehow announce themselves. My instincts kicked in, and made me fumble on the bedside table in search of my gun. Once I had that reassuring weight in my hand, I turned the lights on. And, sure enough, a woman was standing in my bedroom, too close for comfort. Her hair was black and short, her eyes were pitch black and she was quite petite, and had a very pale face.

Luckily I don't believe in ghosts, because if I did that figure standing there in the gloom would have scared the hell out of me. As it was, I surmised it was some other elemental I hadn't met yet.

"And you would be…?"

The woman didn't smile.

"My name is unimportant. I have a message for you."

"And who is the sender of this message?"

"Its name is also unimportant. Suffice it to say that it is far more powerful than your elemental friends. It wants you to know that it knows about you, and that your recent actions have annoyed it. You will cease such actions immediately."

Oh, a threat! Boy, do I love threats: they bring out the worst in me.

"And what if I don't?"

"You will deeply regret it."

"Would you mind being a bit more specific?" That really wasn't a serious threat yet: not fun enough.

"You will be destroyed."

"Look, my dear, your face is far scarier than your words. Let me guess: you are a transient being, and you represent your authority, desperate to stop me because it knows very well that I can destroy all its agents with my mere touch. Oh, by the way, would you like to try it?" I said, getting up and slowly approaching her. She actually looked frightened, and recoiled.

"Stop! I can offer an alternative."

I was curious to hear that.

"Go ahead."

"My authority proposes a… partnership."

I laughed in her face.

"And why on earth should I partner with you guys? My current partners are more agreeable, thank you."

"Your current partners are about to join us."

I winced.

"You're lying! Why should they do that?"

"Because we offer much more that their current compensation. And because they have realized that we are far more powerful and that they could accomplish much more with us."

I kept silent. The woman went on:

"Check what I said and think about my offer. It will not stand for long. I will be back soon to hear your answer."

And she was gone.

That was the second person mentioning the possible betrayal by Sapphire and Steel. The fact that she worked for the enemy only made things worse.

It was 3:00 am. No way I could sleep now. I decided to fix some coffee and think over the entire situation.

While I was pensively sipping my coffee, I heard a faint knock at the door. Speaking of the devil: Sapphire and Steel were standing at my door, and they didn't look too happy.

I decided to take the initiative.

"So, what's up? It's not like you to show up in the middle of the night."

Sapphire answered: "We have sensed that you have been visited by a most unwelcome entity."

"I have. I don't know her name, but she was a transient all right."

Steel asked: "And what did she want from you?"

I decided not to show all my cards.

"Oh, she was just trying to intimidate me into stopping my cooperation with you. But don't worry, she didn't impress me very much. As soon as I got close to her and threatened to touch her, she disappeared."

Steel mulled over my words for a while, then said: "Good. They really cannot harm you, quite the opposite, and they perfectly realize that. They have lost one of their best men in your hands, and they certainly don't want to repeat the experience."

"I'm aware of that. So nothing to worry about, right?"

"Precisely. You can return to your convalescence."

"Wait! No more assignments for me?"

"Not for a while. You need rest."

"But…." Too late: they were gone.

Damn! Now how on earth was I supposed to find out what was going on? Moreover, my little ghostly friend would soon come back to hear my decision, and what should I tell her?

Wait, I forgot about Mercury. I made up my mind: I would wait for him to contact me again and then I would ask for his help to play spies.

ooo

I didn't have to wait long. Two days later Mercury was in front of my door.

I immediately got to the point.

"Mercury, I've been waiting for you."

"What have you found out?"

"I've been contacted by the transients, who are trying to convince me to join them, and said that both Sapphire and Steel are about to do the same."

Mercury looked devastated.

"I knew it. It's so hard to believe, though."

"Wait, we cannot know for sure. It may be a trick by the transients: by telling me that my friends are about to betray, they hope to make me follow their example."

"You forgot that I heard them. This is terrible, detective, we are talking about two of our best elements. The authority has no way of fighting the transients if they betray. Not to mention the fact that other agents might decide to do the same."

I tried to comfort him.

"Listen, Mercury, I have a plan, but I need your help. I want to let the transients think that I accept their proposal, and when they trust me enough I may find out what our friends are really about to do."

"What if it's just a plan to destroy you? Once you are in their hands, they might find a way to defeat you."

I had thought about that possibility, but I didn't want to entertain that thought too long.

"I can take care of myself. Remember that my mere touch can destroy them, so I don't think they will do anything reckless."

"How can I help you in this rather dangerous plan?"

"If they actually try to trick me, I might need an ally, and fast. How can I get in touch with you?"

He approached me. "We need to share a mental contact. May I?"

I nodded. He touched my forehead with his hand, and I heard his voice in my mind. 'Now we are sharing our brainwaves. Anytime you need me, just call me with your mind as loud as you can.'

"Wow! That was amazing! Much clearer than unintentionally picking up your mental communications."

He smiled, and I noticed that my friend Mike was right: he _was_ rather good looking. A younger version of the actor Pierce Brosnan. Not bad, actually. And he certainly was much better mannered than Steel!

A sudden thought crossed my mind.

"You haven't just read my mind, have you?"

He smiled again. "No, don't worry, we cannot do that. We can just exchange deliberate communications. Why, what were you just thinking?"

"Nothing of importance, really. All right, Mercury, you'd better go now. I don't know when the transient will be back, and I don't want her to find you here."

"Very well. Good luck." He kissed my hand before teleporting away. A real gentleman, too.

ooo

As it turned out, I didn't have to wait long. That evening the ghostly transient appeared in my apartment while I was watching TV. I didn't see her at first, since she materialized behind me, but I felt that strange vibration again, and all the hairs in the nape of my neck stood. Jeez, these people were really creepy.

I turned and faced her.

"I'm glad you're back. I thought over your proposal."

"And what's your answer?"

"I will join you only if you can prove that Sapphire and Steel are on your side."

"How do you expect us to prove it? We don't use those silly gadgets you humans use to distinguish your membership to your countless organizations."

"I know you don't use badges or IDs, but I'm sure you will meet someplace to concoct your… whatever it is that you concoct. Just bring me along when you know that my friends will be there, and I will believe you."

She thought over my proposal, then she looked like she was communicating. Oddly enough, I couldn't hear anything in my mind: my little trick didn't work with them, which was a relief, but also a complication in this particular case.

"We accept. We will meet with Sapphire and Steel tomorrow. You will be there."

"Is it going to be a physical place? I mean, will it be in my world? Because I cannot teleport at will."

"We know that. We will meet at 9:00 pm at an abandoned railway station just south of this city. It's called Buena Vista station. Do you know the place?"

I sure did, and I didn't like it one bit: it was the most God-forsaken place around L.A. They certainly wanted to make sure no casual passers-by would see us.

"I'll be there. Just one word of caution: no transient tricks, or the deal is off. Agreed?"

She disappeared.

"I'll take that as a yes."

ooo

The evening after, at 9:00 pm, I was in my car, parked in front of the most desolate station I'd ever seen. No need to come earlier: these people just appeared out of nowhere, so they could take me unawares any way they wanted to. Nobody was in sight, so I took my gun (you never know, they might be vulnerable to good old-fashioned bullets!), I tried to cool down my cold sweat and got out of the car. I slowly walked into the building. It was dusty, covered with writings on the walls and scattered with broken glass.

I heard voices coming from what looked like the waiting room, so I headed that way. When I got closer, I recognized Steel's voice, much to my dismay. He was saying: "We are willing to cooperate with you from now on, but not to harm any of our former associates. And you must not harm them, either."

Another male voice answered. "You're asking too much: the elementals are our enemies, our aim is to destroy them. We are not asking you to act against them, just to refrain from interfering when we will fight them. You will be generously rewarded."

"All right, we'll comply with what you ask. But we will not participate to any such actions."

Dear God, Steel was agreeing to passively accept the destruction of his friends. I wondered what Sapphire had to say, but she never uttered a word during the whole transaction. They never realized I was listening. Well, the transients surely knew, that was why I was there, but my friends didn't know I just witnessed to their betrayal.

I knew I had heard enough for my purpose, but I couldn't leave: I wanted to know how they expected Sapphire and Steel to help them.

They were actually about to discuss that, when all of a sudden all hell broke loose without warning. I heard people yelling, including Sapphire, and then Lead's voice shouting: "Steel, get their boss!"

What was Lead doing there? I peeped into the room, and I saw a mess: at least three people were laying down, unmoving. Two of them were covered in frost. The third was Sapphire. Oh, no! Traitor or not, I had to help her. I ran into the room, unnoticed by the fighting beings, and kneeled by her unmoving body. I felt for a pulse, and luckily I found it. It was weak, though, and I was sure that wasn't good, not even for an elemental. I looked for apparent wounds, but I couldn't find any. I couldn't really help her, but I could at least protect her from the transients. When one of them approached us very threateningly, I didn't move, and just reached out to him with one hand when he was close enough. The outcome was impressive: he writhed and yelled, bathed in an eerie blue light, then disappeared with a loud crack. That drew other transients' attention, but only one of them was stupid enough to let me touch him. He followed his friend's fate. Another one, trying to run from me, went straight into Steel's arms, and got frozen. When the transients finally understood they were losing their battle, they all disappeared at the same time.

The sudden silence was oppressive. Steel ran at Sapphire's side, a horrified look in the grey eyes. A nasty-looking cut in his forehead was bleeding, but he didn't seem to notice.

I asked: "What happened to her?"

He gently gathered her in his arms and said, in a broken voice: "She's been hit by a transient. They can stop our brainwaves until they force our brains to shut down."

Uh oh, that was definitely bad news. I looked at Lead and asked: "Is there any way to restart her brain?"

My huge friend looked disconsolate: "Not as far as we know."

I noticed that Steel had put a hand over Sapphire's forehead and had closed his eyes, concentrating hard. I was sure he was trying to reach his partner in the recesses of her mind. I joined him in his attempt. Lead followed suit.

I mentally called Mercury: maybe he could lend a hand, too.

He appeared after a few seconds, rapidly took the situation in without asking, and joined us. A couple of minutes later, Silver also appeared, and then a woman I didn't know.

I briefly opened my eyes, and I saw that we were all touching Sapphire's head and mentally calling her. I looked at Steel, and what I saw shocked me: a single teardrop was slowly running down his face. That appalling sight made me double my efforts: I was now mentally shouting at my elemental friend.

I was sure time had stopped. I was feeling wearier and wearier, but I didn't want to stop. I probably overestimated my mental resistance, because after what looked like hours I felt my brain withdraw from the joining. I tried to force it to continue, but it was totally uncooperative: it had decided it had enough, and that was that.

I fell down: I didn't lose consciousness, I more felt like I was daydreaming. I saw the group of elementals crouched around Sapphire and finally, coming from a very long distance, Sapphire's voice, weak and drained. I couldn't make out the words, but they had a funny effect on the elementals: they all withdrew from the joining and moved away from the prone body. Only Steel remained, still embracing his partner. The tear had disappeared, now replaced by a relieved smile. My last conscious thought was: he's really handsome when he smiles.

ooo

When I woke up, I was in my bed. Not again, I thought. Why do I always end up here after I complete an assignment with the elementals?

According to my alarm clock, it was 9:00 am. How on earth did I get home and went to bed? I noticed I was still clothed, so I surmised some of my elemental friends brought me here.

I got up, heading for the kitchen, but I stopped abruptly: someone was sitting on my couch. I relaxed: it was Mercury.

He beamed his beautiful smile at me, got up and said, in his pleasant baritone: "Good morning. I trust you slept well? I hope I'm not intruding, but I wanted to make sure you weren't alone when you woke up."

"I appreciate it. I slept like a log, actually. Please, Mercury, tell me what happened."

We both sat on the couch. He said: "It looks like Sapphire and Steel didn't want to betray, after all: it was a deception. Steel took the initiative without asking our authority, because he wanted to inflict a big blow to the transients. He never accepted the fact that they almost defeated them. Too bad he never bothered to inform us. Only Lead knew, merely because Steel needed his insulating capabilities. Despite their superior strength, he was sure they were vulnerable to his freezing powers, and he was right. He managed to get down three of them, before all hell broke loose. You destroyed two more, so they are now counting five casualties, which will certainly make them think twice before trying to fight us again."

I asked: "What about Sapphire?"

"Our concerted efforts worked: we managed to revive her. She will have no lasting consequences, she just needs a lot of rest."

"I'm very glad to hear that. I think Steel couldn't bear to lose her."

"Our friend Steel is very much a lonely soul, but Sapphire is the only one who knows how to really get to him. They are very fond of each other, and they are great partners."

"I think he loves her."

Mercury cast me a quizzical look. "Love? Our job does not contemplate love."

I smiled. "Maybe it doesn't, but it's not something you can easily control, is it?"

"I guess not, but it would still be very dangerous to feel something so deep for a person who you're supposed to work with, don't you think?"

I remembered I talked about it with Sapphire, not long ago.

"He might not be able to show it, but I still think he's in love with her."

"Well, I guess you're the expert. As far as I am concerned, I have never felt that emotion before, and I'm very glad."

I couldn't resist prodding him. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Not much, probably, just a bunch of confused feelings and hormonal surges."

So, elementals did have hormones. That was definitely very good to know. I wasn't finished with poor Mercury yet. I sat closer to him. He cast me an alarmed look, which didn't stop me one bit. I kept getting closer, until our faces were only inches away.

He didn't withdraw, though, so I kept approaching him. I spoke softly, almost on his lips: "It's time you try a hormonal surge yourself." Then I tenderly kissed his lips. I was sure he'd disappear immediately but, much to his credit, he lingered for a few seconds.

I was starting to think that maybe he was enjoying it, when I suddenly realized I was kissing empty air. I felt quite silly, but also very pleased with myself: I taught an elemental what a good old-fashioned human kiss felt like!


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

I hate being on sick leave. The first two days are very relaxing, but then things get terribly boring. You can't go to the gym, you can't go to work; you can only stay home, read and watch TV. I was getting so restless, that I would even welcome another fight against the transients.

Luckily, when my doorbell rang and I saw Sapphire standing in front of my door, I could tell from her face that nothing quite so extreme was in sight. She was smiling, and she was as beautiful as ever.

"Sapphire! It's so good to see you again. Please come in and sit down. You were in a pretty bad shape last time I saw you."

She got in and gracefully sat on my couch. She was wearing another one of her gorgeous blue dresses, but she did look pretty worn-out.

"Yes. I'm actually still recovering, so I didn't come in an official capacity."

That really roused my curiosity.

"Oh? Somehow I don't think you came all this way just for a gal chat."

She smiled. "No, you're right. I came here for Steel."

"What about him?"

"He's very depressed, lately."

I almost laughed.

"Depressed? Steel? Come on, Sapphire, he really doesn't strike me as the easily depressed type."

"Not under normal circumstances, but our last assignment was anything but. You see, he almost lost me, and that must have triggered something in his mind."

"More likely in his heart."

She look disconsolate. "Yes. You have noticed that he's fiercely protective of me, but that is very detrimental to our job. He must accept the fact that I might die, as I accept the fact that _I_ might lose him."

"How do you expect me to help you make him accept that?"

"I don't know, but you are much more knowledgeable in this type of matters than me. I'm sure you will find a way."

Now, why on earth was she so sure about that?

"I have another request."

Uh oh. Now what?

"I want you to look after him in your next assignment."

I was amazed.

"What next assignment are you talking about?"

"You haven't been contacted yet, but you will soon be. Steel won't be in his usual sharp conditions, because of me, so he might become careless. You must help him focus."

"Don't worry, I'll watch over him. I'll slap him in the back of his head from time to time to keep him alert!"

She smiled at the image.

"Thank you. And don't forget to discuss about that other issue."

I didn't know which was worse: slapping Steel in the head or talking him into not worrying over his partner during their assignments. But I didn't want to disappoint Sapphire, so I said: "Very well, leave it to me. Do you know when I will be contacted?"

"Possibly today. Good luck, and thank you for your help."

"Anytime."

* * *

As it was, Steel showed up that same afternoon. As usual, he didn't waste time with niceties and got right to the point.

"I need you to come with me on a pretty delicate assignment: it seems there is a teenager who is causing time troubles."

"What kind of time troubles?"

"According to my briefing, he is capable of making people get older or younger at will. One of his victims, another teenager, was turned into a fifty years old. Another one reversed to childhood."

Scary. Very scary.

"How does he operate?"

"I don't have the details. We will have to find out. I need you to interact with him. I'm not very good with kids. That's usually Sapphire's territory."

I repressed a laugh. For Steel, kids were probably just smaller and much more annoying versions of adult humans.

"Very well. Where does he live?"

"In a foster home in Kent, Ohio."

"Give me the address. I will be there tomorrow at noon."

He gave me a small piece of paper and disappeared without a word.

"Goodbye to you!"

* * *

Kent is a pretty university town, full of young people. The foster home was approximately 15 miles from downtown. It was old, but it looked clean and well cared for, and the yard was full of toys, bikes, balls and baseball gloves.

I was observing it from my rented car, when Steel suddenly appeared in the passenger's seat. I jerked and bumped my head against the window frame.

"Ouch! Steel! I already asked you not to appear out of the blue like that. You startle people, you know?"

His smirk showed that he perfectly knew it, and that he actually enjoyed doing it.

"The boy is not at home. We should talk to his adoptive parents and get some explanations before we meet him."

"All right, let's go. Please, let me do the talking."

"That's why you're here."

We talked to the boy's adoptive mother, who was really worried about him. He was a very difficult kid, more than all the others who grew up at her home. He was very aggressive, even with the other kids in the house. He was always nervous and edgy, lately, as though something was constantly nagging at him. When I asked her if he'd always been like that, she told me that he had changed a lot when he turned fourteen, about six months ago. He had never been an easy child, but now he was overly hostile, almost malevolent. The woman hesitated to utter the word, but I could tell it was because she, too, was afraid of the boy. She said that he came home every day for dinner, and she had no idea where he spent his afternoons. We took an evening appointment with the woman, to make sure the boy was home when we came back.

I drove Steel to my motel room: we needed to devise some kind of plan.

"It looks like something happened during his fourteenth birthday."

He agreed.

"Yes. Adolescence is always difficult, but birthdays are especially delicate transition moments. I think he has made an agreement with some time entity, who probably wanted to make him feel almighty and gave him those terrible powers. Now he feels like he can control people's lives and he's enjoying the feeling. I think he's been teased all his life, and now he wants revenge."

I was amazed by his fine psychological analysis.

"My, Steel, do you mean that you experienced the same problems when you were a kid?"

He cast me an indignant look.

"What makes you think that we go through the same growing process as humans?"

"Mmm, good point. Well, then, how do we fight this rebellious and potentially lethal teenager?"

"We must not allow his temper to flare: I'm not sure you and I would be unaffected by his powers. This means that I cannot touch him, not even to freeze him. If things get out of hand, you will have to shoot him."

I was stunned.

"Steel! Shoot a kid? I'm a police woman, remember? I'm no murderer."

"But this particular kid could be. I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to kill. He has never developed any morals, and he's enjoying his powers too much to stop just because we ask him to."

"It's not his fault. He's been tricked by your time entity. And he's only fourteen, for God's sake. He cannot be held responsible for his actions. Sorry, Steel, I couldn't kill a kid, not even if he were Jack the Ripper."

He got pretty angry and raised his voice.

"You are trained to shoot criminals, aren't you? You wouldn't hesitate killing an armed man, right? What difference does it make? Here the criminal is younger, but his weapons are far deadlier."

I hated to disappoint him, but I really could not agree to such a cold-blooded act.

"Sorry, Steel. Don't count on me shooting down that kid like a rabid dog. You will have to find another way."

He forced himself to sit down, but I could tell he would gladly break my neck. Boy, I really made him furious. I tried to soothe him.

"Why don't we start trying to understand why he's doing this and what did that entity promise him? All we have so far are assumptions. We should check the facts."

"What if he decides that we are a threat and tries to get rid of us? A mere touch could be all he needs to kill us both."

"He might need an authoritative figure. He's never had a real father in his life, and he might listen to you."

Steel chuckled. He actually chuckled! It was the first time I heard that sound, and it was so out of character, I stared at him open mouthed.

"A father figure? Me?"

He did have a point there.

"Well, you _are_ pretty authoritative, aren't you? That may be all he needs."

"It may be all he needs to lose control. Anyway, if that's all you can come up with, let's go and try it. If things get out of hand, I want you out of that house as fast as you can. Don't let him come near you. I want to be able to privately communicate with you. You have already shared your brainwaves with Mercury, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have. Do we need to go through the same process?"

"Yes. I need to touch your thoughts. May I?"

I nodded. He got up and approached me. I got up, too, and now we were standing in front of each other. We were almost the same height, so I could easily look into his eyes. Once again, they turned a darker shade, almost blue. He got closer and put both his hands to the sides of my head. He was so close I could smell his breath, which reminded me of honey.

"You have changing eyes." I murmured.

"You have intricate brain patterns." He commented.

He closed his eyes, as if to better concentrate. I was free to take a good look at him. He had regular features, a square jaw, the nicest blond hair and a beautiful mouth. He might be bad-tempered, but he sure was handsome.

His voice boomed in my mind. [Thank you. You too are very attractive.]

I winced.

"I thought you could not read my mind!"

He was grinning smugly.

"I can't, but you broadcasted your… assessment quite intensely."

Oops. I was so embarrassed I didn't know what to say, so I just snapped at him.

"Well, don't just stand there. We should go talk to the boy, now."

He grinned again, and opened the door for me, bowing teasingly. I swallowed a sharp remark and tried to summon all my dignity.

Once in the car, Steel commented: "I noticed you have left your gun at the motel."

"Yes. Thus neither of us will be tempted to use it."

He didn't comment, and stayed silent until we reached the boy's house.

We rang the doorbell, and the same woman we met before opened the door.

"He's in his room. I didn't tell him you would come, I didn't want him to get upset."

"You did the right thing. Can we talk to him alone?"

"I think it's better. I don't want any of the younger kids to be around if he gets mad."

The woman was really scared of the boy. Maybe leaving the gun at the motel wasn't such a good idea, after all. Well, too late now.

The woman showed us to the boy's room, then went downstairs. A loud music was coming through the door. We knocked three times before a voice said: "Come."

We opened the door. Inside was a typical teenager's room: posters of musical bands, clothes and shoes everywhere, a messy desk with a PC, and an unmade bed. The boy also looked quite ordinary: tall, thin, disheveled, pimply, and with a defiant look in the brown eyes.

He asked: "Who are you? Are you from the social services?"

I answered: "Hi, Robert. My name is Constance, and my friend here is Steel. We are not from the social services. We represent a different organization. You see, we help children with, uhm, unusual capabilities, like you. "

He looked alarmed, now.

"What unusual capabilities are you talking about?"

"Come on, Robert, we know about your powers, and we have come here to warn you against them. You see, the entity that gave you such a lethal power did not tell you the whole story."

He still wasn't very cooperative.

"What entity? What story?"

It was Steel's time to talk.

"Let's skip the "I know nothing about it" part, shall we? We know what that entity has promised you, what _you_ don't know is that that same entity will take away from you all the years that you take away from others. You have already aged a boy, stealing him 35 years of life, and reversed another to childhood, so you must add another 10 years. Well, those 45 years will be subtracted from your own life. I bet it didn't tell you about this little clause, did it?"

The boy looked dumbstruck and didn't say anything.

I said: "Listen, Robert, we know that you just want people to stop making fun of you or bullying you, but this is not the right way."

"Yes, it is! Because people are getting scared of me, and they respect me now."

"Respect is not earned through fear. They don't respect you, they just stay away from you. What do you want, to become a monster that keeps all his friends at bay because he scares them?"

He raised his voice.

"If it works, yes! You should see the look in their eyes. They have never looked at me like that before. I like feeling powerful. I like being able to control people's lives."

Steel startled us both by slamming his fist onto the desk, making the PC and everything else jump a few inches, and leaving a dent in the thick wooden surface. He had such a furious look in his eyes, even _I_ felt like running away and hiding.

"You don't control their lives, you destroy them! And destroy yours in the process!"

The boy's voice dropped a few decibels.

"How can I be sure you're telling the truth? You might just want to trick me, like all the other grown-ups."

Also Steel's voice returned to a normal volume.

"There is a way. Why don't you just ask your entity what are the consequences of your actions? I'm sure you didn't bother to ask before making your little deal with it. It will be forced to answer a direct question."

"I will think about it."

"Well, don't think too long, because your debt with it is already pretty onerous. You'd better control yourself before it decides to collect its payment."

He didn't reply, so we left him brooding over our words.

When we were back in the car, I asked Steel: "You want him to meet the entity. Why?"

"Because that boy is never going to stop: either he doesn't believe us or he enjoys his powers too much. We need to find the entity and destroy it. We will follow the boy everywhere he goes."

"Great! Another car watch. Just what the doctor ordered!"

Steel didn't bother to answer, so I moved the car in a less noticeable position and made myself comfortable: I probably had to stay in that car for quite some time.

Steel earned a few points by keeping me company during our watch. I knew he could just leave and let me summon him back as soon as the boy moved, but he decided to stay in the car with me. Too bad he wasn't very talkative, so it really didn't make a lot of difference.

I was getting bored, so I decided to test our mental connection.

[So, how is Sapphire doing?]

He turned and looked at me.

"You're shouting. You should try to control your mental voice."

"Oops, sorry, I'm really not used to it."

"I know, it takes some time. Anyway, Sapphire is doing OK. She's slowly recovering. Why, do you miss her?"

"Well, I must say she has better conversational abilities than you, but then again I'm sure you have other qualities."

"I have different capabilities, yes. And I'm not interested in cheap talk."

"Listen, Steel, I'm bored, and I'm sure you're not having fun either, so why don't we just spend the time pleasantly?"

"And talking about Sapphire would be pleasant?"

"Could be. For instance, why don't you tell me about your relationship with her?"

"We are just business associates."

"In a pig's eye! You clamp like an oyster anytime I mention her, which means that it's a sensitive subject."

"What exactly do you want to know? If we are 'sentimentally engaged', as you would put it?"

"Well, I wouldn't have asked it so bluntly, but… yes, basically, that's what I would like to know."

"Why?"

Mmm, good question. I really couldn't tell him about my little chat with his partner.

"Well, I just would like to know if my instinct is right."

"And what does your instinct tell you in this particular circumstance?"

"That you two would very much like to share something much deeper, but you can't because of your job. I am correct?"

He didn't say anything for a good minute, and I thought he wouldn't answer me, but then he said, in a very low voice, looking straight ahead of him: "We've worked together for such a long time, sharing all kinds of dangers, facing all types of threats, saving each other's life countless times, that we really cannot help it. You want to know if I love Sapphire. The answer is yes, but I cannot afford to explore this feeling. And neither can she. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Wow, that was the longest sentence I've ever heard him say. And it was astonishingly profound, too.

"Sorry, Steel, I didn't mean to pry. I just…. Oh, shit!"

I noticed that the boy had left the house and was heading toward our car. He was very close and it was too late to stoop down, he surely had already seen our two silhouettes behind the windshield. So I took a quick decision. I got out of a similar situation with my friend Mike before, and I decided to do the same trick with Steel. I mentally called out to him: [Steel, kiss me, quickly!]

I was sure he would object, but he complied immediately. Smart man. He hugged me tight and kissed me, trying to lower my seat in the meantime. We really looked like two eager lovers.

When the boy went by our car, he merely gave a quick, uninterested glance at the two kissing people. For him, we were just another lustful couple.

Well, I was actually feeling a bit lustful myself. Steel was not just pretending to kiss me, he was doing the real thing, and was doing it very well. His mouth tasted like honey, and his tongue was pure velvet. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his weight on me, his bangs tickling my forehead, his hand stroking me. I could not resist threading my fingers through his silky hair.

When we came up for air, he asked: "Is the boy far enough?"

I said, in a very dizzy voice: "I'm not sure, I can't see him from here."

He flashed a mischievous smile and murmured: "Better safe than sorry." And bent to kiss me again. Deeper and longer than before. My rational thoughts vanished, and my instinctual part took over. I reciprocated his kiss, pulling him tighter.

After a time I really could not calculate, he slowly withdrew. We were both out of breath and slightly flushed. He kept hugging me and just stared at me with the sweetest look in his eyes.

I could not help asking him: "Wow! Where did you learn _that_?"

He smiled. "You might be surprised, but we are deeply affected by human drives when we are in this form. I've enjoyed the pleasure of human kisses before."

Never ask a question, when you know that you won't like the answer.

"How many women have you kissed, exactly?"

"Is it really important?"

It wasn't, so I didn't push the subject. I also was still feeling quite lightheaded.

His voice caressed my mind: [You too kiss beautifully. I enjoyed your little diversion very much.]

Boy, I forgot the reason why we kissed. I just received the best kiss in my whole life, and it was just a diversion. How unfair!

I tried to summon my dignity and recover my composure. I smoothed down my clothes and arranged my hair.

His voice brought me back to reality.

"We should follow the boy, now."

I started the engine and took off slowly, not turning on the lights to avoid being spotted.

I quickly saw the boy walking briskly toward downtown. I trailed him with no difficulties.

After approximately 20 minutes, he entered a pedestrian area, and we were forced to park the car and keep following him on foot.

We saw him turning into an alley, so we hurried after him. According to my map, that whole area was pretty much a maze, and we didn't want to lose him now.

We stopped short when we heard him calling out loud.

"I need to talk to you. Where are you?"

Steel spoke in my mind: [He's summoning the entity. Get ready.]

Easy to say: get ready for what?

I didn't need to make assumptions: a strong wind suddenly started blowing in the alley, and I felt a deep throb in the thickened atmosphere. We peeped behind the corner, and saw a figure slowly forming in the dust the wind was lifting.

As soon as the dust deposited, I saw a little girl standing in front of the boy.

[Steel, it's a girl! Could it be the time child?]

Steel was baffled. [A girl? I see an old man. He's at least eighty years old.]

Wow! We were seeing two different people. I tried to give a better look, and now I saw a young male standing in front of the boy. Steel said: [Wait! It's a young woman, now.]

[A woman? I see a man, now. Steel, that entity changes its appearance, and we don't even see the same one at the same time.]

[Astonishing.] He sounded almost in awe. Almost.

The boy seemed used to the entity's changing appearance, as he didn't look scared. He started talking to it, but we couldn't really hear anything, because the wind was still roaring. I turned to look at Steel, but he was moving at an impossibly low speed. It was like watching a slow motion film. I heard his voice in my mind, and it was slowed down, too:

[Whhhaaattt'sss gooooinnnng oooonnn? Whyyyy aaaaare youuuuu moooovinnnng soooo faaaast?]

I tried to answer: [Fast?Whosmovingfast?Youremovingtooslowly.]

Dear God, we were moving, and talking, at different speeds!

[Leeeet's geeeet awaaaaay froooom heeereeee.]

I couldn't agree more, but when I turned and tried to run, I felt like all my joints were hurting. I was feeling exceedingly tired, as if someone had suddenly put a huge weight over my shoulders. I looked at Steel, and what I saw dumbfounded me: the Steel I knew wasn't there anymore, replaced by a skinny fair-haired fifteen years old, looking lost in the grey suit, too big for his size.

The realization of what had happened quickly struck me: we were experiencing the powers of the time entity.

As soon as we were far enough from the alley where the entity materialized, I felt that my ageing had stopped, but it was too late: I now was an old woman and Steel was a teenager.

I had to lean against a wall, because I was feeling too tired to walk. Steel was looking at me with a bewildered expression in the impossibly young grey eyes.

When he spoke, his speed was back to normal, but his voice was much higher-pitched.

"His powers operate at a wide range. It can even strike unintentionally."

When I spoke to answer him, I was horrified to hear the hoarse voice of an elderly woman: "It's too late for us, now. How can we stop it? We cannot even get close. I'd die of old age, and you'd reverse to infancy."

"I wonder what would happen if the boy touched the entity. Maybe a backfiring of its own power would destroy it."

"Even if it worked, and we cannot be sure of that, how can we convince the boy to touch it? And, assuming we manage to convince him, do you really think the entity will let him touch it?"

That youthful brow wasn't quite capable of frowning. He said: "You're right. It must not be done willingly."

"We should forcibly push the boy against the entity, but how? We cannot get any closer. We don't have enough years to spare."

"We don't know for sure that every time it strikes it produces the same effects. Next time the effect could be reversed, thus bringing us back to our real ages, or at least giving us enough time to reach them and push the boy."

"But how can we be sure, before it's too late?"

"Do you remember what happened before you got older? You were speaking and moving unnaturally fast. I presume I was doing the opposite thing."

"That's right, yes."

"We could use that indication to ascertain which direction the ageing is going. If you start moving fast again, you cannot get close, but if you move slowly, that means that you will get younger."

That sounded like a very sensible reasoning.

"Not bad for a young pup! Let's go!"

He actually had to support me, because walking was really painful. I could have used one of those walking aids for elderly people. At 39 years of age! How's that for a bad day?

A sudden thought struck me, and I stopped short.

"Wait a minute. What will happen to the boy?"

Seeing a raged look in those young eyes was chilling.

"You still worry about him? After what he's done to you?"

"It wasn't the boy, it was the entity."

"The entity is loose in this world because of the boy. He's responsible for what happened to us. Both he and the entity must be stopped. To protect others."

His last sentence persuaded me. We had a responsibility toward all the other lives that the boy could potentially destroy.

As soon as we approached the alley, I started feeling that strange vibration again, and I heard the wind roaring. I carefully watched Steel, to see if he was moving fast or slow.

But when I turned to face him, I was alone. I looked around, and I saw him turning the corner to the alley, moving at an impossible speed. My thoughts were sluggish: did that mean that he was getting younger or older?

As soon as I turned that same corner, I heard a huge bang, followed by a massive pressure wave that thrust me backward a few feet. When I landed on my back, I was half expecting some broken bones, but what touched the ground were young elastic bones protected by resilient muscles.

I picked myself up easily, and ran back to the alley, enjoying the feeling. I didn't know how old I was, but I felt more or less the same, so maybe Steel was right, after all.

When I looked in the alley, I saw Steel standing in front of a very scared, very dazed boy sprawled on the pavement. The entity was gone.

I approached Steel. "What happened?"

He was straightening his cuffs, as if enjoying the feeling of proper-sized clothes.

"Our assumption was right. The boy destroyed the entity with the same power it gave him. I expect his victims are now back to their normal ages."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because by the time I got near him, I was much older, but now I'm back to my real age, as you are."

So that meant that when I landed hard on the floor, I was much younger than my present age, and that's why I didn't get hurt.

I nodded at the boy. "What about him?"

"He doesn't remember anything. I told him we are bringing him home."

We got back to the car and drove in complete silence. The boy was too shaken to talk, while I was still trying to convince myself that I was not about to die of old age, and Steel was, well, just being Steel.

We dropped him at the foster home and, after having explained to his adoptive mother that the boy had overcome the difficult moment he was going through, and that from now on he would cause nothing worse than the usual teenager problems, we went back to my motel room.

Once inside, I excused myself and went straight into the shower. I let the hot water soothe my tense muscles for a long time, enjoying the feeling of having a relatively young and satisfactorily responsive body again.

I wrapped myself in a soft towel and moved into the bedroom. I was pretty sure Steel had left in the meantime, but much to my surprise he was still there, sitting on the bed. He had removed his jacket and tie, and gave me a long appreciative look, while I felt quite embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I thought you left. I'll just fetch some fresh clothes from my suitcase and I'll be presentable again."

"You already are." He looked pretty serious, so I couldn't tell whether he was joking. While I was rummaging in my luggage, he stood and approached me. He moved stealthier than a cat, though, so I realized he was right behind me only when I turned around and bumped into him.

Surprised, I dropped my clothes and clung to my towel. He made his peculiar half-smile and said: "I'm sorry I startled you. I just wanted to lend a hand. You look pretty tense and I thought you might appreciate a technique Sapphire has taught me. It never fails to relax me, I'm sure it will work for you, too."

I swallowed: he was dangerously close. I managed to ask, in a relatively steady voice: "What technique?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Implicitly." I meant it.

He reached with his hands on my shoulders and started to massage. Boy, it felt so good I moaned. The man had the perfect touch: not too soft and not too hard. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to enjoy the treatment. He turned me around and started massaging my shoulders from behind, which vastly improved the treatment. After a while he said, in a quiet voice: "Why don't you lie down? I can give you a back rub, if you like."

It was like asking an alcoholic if he would like a drink. I didn't answer - I didn't trust my own voice - but I swiftly complied. He sat beside me and kept massaging my shoulders. After a few minutes, he gently lowered the towel still wrapped around my torso and started massaging all my back. I was in heaven. His hands were warm and strong, and his fingers aptly found all my knots and gently worked them with deep motions.

His voice was uncharacteristically soft when he said: "You have a very muscular back."

"I work out often. You have very sensitive hands."

He didn't answer, but his hands slowed down their motions and reduced the pressure, until the back rub turned into slow caresses. I moaned again, but I couldn't help wondering where we were going.

The next time he spoke, his voice was much closer to my left ear. "You also have a very soft skin. I like its silky feel. I hope you don't mind."

He was giving me a chance to draw back, but I couldn't: I was too carried away.

So I said, in a husky voice: "Please, don't stop."

It was all the encouragement he needed. He kept caressing my back, while his lips found my neck. He gently moved my still damp hair out of the way, and started depositing small feathery kisses. I managed to hold on only for a minute, then I turned around. My towel was not covering my front anymore, but I didn't care. I pulled Steel closer and kissed him. He had somehow removed his shirt in the meantime - although I had no idea how he managed, since both his hands were busy massaging me - so now he was sporting a bare, muscular chest. We were skin on skin, and I could feel his well-defined muscles underneath. He was well built, and his skin was so soft I couldn't help but reciprocate his caresses. When our kiss deepened, I knew I was totally lost in him. He was attracting me like a moth to a flame, and I was burning likewise.

But suddenly I thought about Sapphire: how could I do this to her? I knew they both told me that they weren't really involved, but I knew they loved each other. So I was probably just second choice for Steel, and that idea really wasn't very stimulating.

Steel sensed my hesitation and slowly withdrew.

"You're thinking about Sapphire, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Steel; this is going a way I didn't anticipate. I don't think I'm ready to get into a potentially messy situation."

He reluctantly covered my body again with the towel and slowly got up.

"I understand, and I must bow to your reasoning. You are a big temptation, though; I hope you will forgive me."

"There's really nothing to forgive. You are very tempting, too, and you don't know how hard it is for me to hold back right now."

"This might help." And the next moment I looked, he was completely clothed in his grey suit again. Another elemental trick, I surmised. Very handy.

I knew he was about to leave for good.

"When will I see you again?"

"As soon as one of your fellow earthlings decides to mess around with time."

He gave me a long, lingering look, and I thought he was about to teleport, but he approached me instead. He put his hand on the nape of my neck, pulled me closer and gave me the sweetest kiss, then he disappeared, leaving me with an unfulfilled longing and a nagging question: how the hell was I going to explain _this_ to Sapphire?


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

I was old, and feeling dreadfully weak and sluggish. I saw a much younger version of Steel running around a corner, then I heard a gunshot that made my heart skip a beat. I ran to turn the same corner, and while I was running I was feeling younger and younger, but I had a terrible foreboding, so I tried to run faster, but the corner seemed to get farther and farther. When I finally managed to turn it, what I saw froze my blood: Steel was sprawled in a pool of blood on the pavement. I ran to his side and gathered him in my arms, mindless of the blood staining my clothes. I called him, but he didn't answer. He didn't even open his eyes, and he was totally limp. I knew he was dead, without any need to feel for a pulse. I just knew it. I hugged him tighter and started to cry with big, uncontrolled sobs, calling his name.

I woke up with a start, tears running down my cheeks. It took me a while to realize it was just a dream, but with realization also came relief.

Dear God, I just saw Steel die. It was such an upsetting dream, I knew I could not go back to sleep, so I got up.

When I moved to the sitting room, I caught a glimpse of someone sitting on my sofa in the darkened room. I turned the lights on, and I saw Sapphire. She wasn't smiling, as she always did; when I looked at her, I saw tears glittering in her blue eyes.

I screamed. "NO! Please, Sapphire, don't tell me it wasn't a dream!"

She kept looking at me and weeping silently. My legs didn't support me anymore and I sagged on the floor, emptied. "No, no, no."

I felt a sharp pain to my side, where my still healing wound was, and when I tried to reach for it, I realized I was on the floor beside my bed. I fumbled in search of the lamp switch and turned the light on. I was alone in my bedroom, and I just fell from the bed while trying to run from the horrible double dream I just had. My cheeks were still wet with real tears, and I probably screamed out loud, because my cat Numa was at my side, looking pretty scared and sniffing me suspiciously.

I was too upset to move, so I just sat there on the floor, bracing my knees, until dawn sneaked in through my curtains. Only then I dared stand up and walk to the sitting room, which of course was empty.

I moved to the bathroom and took a long, hot shower, trying to wash away the anguish I was still feeling. The shower helped a little, but not completely. While I was trying to gulp down some coffee, I couldn't help thinking about the nightmare. Seeing Steel die was distressing enough, but thinking that it was just a dream only to see Sapphire deny it was even worse.

I wondered what got into me: I rarely have nightmares, and they are never this vivid. Could it be some sort of premonition? Maybe my association with the elementals triggered some latent ability. Yeah, right; and maybe I was just letting my imagination run wild. It was just a dream, albeit vivid, and it was foolish to let it upset me so deeply.

Less than half an hour later, my doorbell rang, and I saw Mercury standing at my door. He looked somber, but not distraught, so I waited for him to speak before making assumptions.

"I was sent by the authority because they sensed your distress. What happened? It must have been something really upsetting for them to send me here to check on you."

I drew a sigh of relief, then explained what happened.

"I had an incredibly vivid dream: I saw Steel die."

He frowned. "It must have been really distressing. How did he die?"

"He was shot. Which of course is impossible, isn't it?"

"Afraid not. Steel can withstand any type of steel weapons, but not lead bullets. We're powerful, but not all-resistant, you know."

"Oh. What if it's a premonitory dream? Where's Steel right now?"

"He's currently on assignment with Sapphire."

"Oh, no. Mercury, he might be in danger!"

"What makes you think this dream has a premonitory quality?"

"It was too vivid, and it was a double dream: when I thought I had woken up, I was still dreaming, and the end result was the same: Steel was dead. Oh, please, Mercury, you must warn him."

"I can't. When the operators are on assignment, they cannot be contacted."

"Then tell me where they are operating. I'll just join them. Are they on Earth?"

"Yes, but this is not allowed. The authority won't let you go."

I raised my voice. "I don't give a damn about your authority! Just tell me where they are and I'll handle it."

I could tell Mercury was torn, but not very inclined to indulge me. I had to convince him.

I took his hand and looked at him with my best pleading eyes. It often works with men, and I was fervently hoping it worked with elementals, too.

"Please, Mercury, you can't refuse to help me. What if Steel really dies during his assignment? How do you think you would feel, knowing that you had a chance to save him? How do you think _I_ would feel?"

Well, it seems to be a universal trick, because after a while I saw his eyes grow soft. He took both my hands in his and said, in a warning tone: "All right. I'll tell you where they are, but you must promise me you will never tell anyone that I disclosed such sensitive information. Although it's not difficult to surmise it was me, I guess."

He scribbled the address on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

I was so happy, I kissed him right on his nicely shaped lips. "Thanks, Mercury, you're terrific!"

He turned a darker shade of red and said: "Just make sure to thank me again when all this will be over."

"I promise!"

He walked out of the door, smiling, and disappeared as soon as he stepped outside.

I had a job to do, and I had to do if fast. I grabbed all my standard equipment: bullet-proof jacket, gun, spare ammunitions, handcuffs and pepper spray, and ran out. I drove to the airport, identified myself as a police officer to make sure I could carry my weapons on the plane, and took the first flight to San Francisco, where I now knew the two agents were operating.

* * *

I rented a car and headed toward the Golden Gate Park. I knew it was a hopeless search, because the park is huge, but I had to give it a try. My police badge allowed me to enter the park by car, so I could speed up my search of the two agents. It was almost dusk, so I had less chances of running over some unsuspecting stroller, although I also had less chances of finding Sapphire and Steel. All I knew was that they were searching for a time anomaly that presumably took place near a large meadow, but I had no idea what they were supposed to do or what threat they were sent to fight. I am no expert, but as far as I know time anomalies don't go around shooting people, but I could not exclude the possibility of someone else interfering.

I was feeling a sense of urgency that wasn't helping me concentrate. I decided to try and contact my friends mentally. I had been connected with Steel before, so I might still be able to communicate with him.

[Steel, can you hear me? Please, answer me. Steel? STEEL!]

The force of my mental shout made my head hurt, but to no avail: either Steel didn't hear me, or he was too busy to care. I didn't fancy considering a third, more pessimistic alternative, so I just kept driving around the park.

As soon as I drove into a nice tree-lined alley, I saw strange lights coming from a very specific area right in front of me. I speeded toward it, but I was forced to pump on the brakes after a few feet, to avoid running over a jogger who was clearly not just jogging, but running as fast as he could.

He skidded to a halt in front of my window and said, in a frightened voice: "You'd better not go that way, madam. Looks like a war zone, over there."

I showed him my badge and tried to calm him down. "Police. I'll take care of that, don't worry. Just stand clear of this area for a few hours, OK?"

He resumed running, not even bothering to answer.

I neared the area, still lit by strange alien lights. When I thought I was close enough, I jumped off the car, wore my bullet-proof jacket and started running, holding my gun.

I decided to move stealthily, but it wasn't easy, because the area was a vast meadow with no trees or bushes to cover me. I could only run and try to stay as low as possible.

The jogger was right: it really looked like a war zone. Flashes and lightning were erupting from one single spot, where I could also glimpse the silhouettes of two fair-haired people trying to approach the source of the lights. One of them was wearing a blue outfit, so it had to be Sapphire.

When I got closer, I noticed that every time a lightning flashed, a figure rose, walking unsteadily. It was some sort of creature, clearly not human, but I was too far to distinguish their features.

There were already at least ten such creatures roaming about. They were trying to organize themselves, and rapidly succeeding. They started to surround my two friends, approaching threateningly.

Steel reacted: he hit one of them, and the creature doubled over, but it clearly was not seriously hurt, because after a few seconds it stood again and resumed its attack. Steel kept hitting as many as he could, but they all quickly recovered and carried on their assault. I knew Steel's strength to be much greater than that, so I wondered why he was holding back and why he didn't drop his temperature to freeze his opponents. Maybe he just couldn't.

I could see that Sapphire's powers were not working, either: although I could feel in my bones the typical throb caused by her taking time back, nothing happened.

I was now close enough to be spotted, but nobody noticed me in all the commotion. Despite Steel's resolve, Sapphire's eyes showed only despair. They were clearly in serious trouble, so I felt entitled to lend a hand. I aimed at one of the creatures with my gun and fired. I hit it right in the forehead - or what I believed was its forehead - and it fell like a puppet. I wondered whether it would rise again in a few seconds, but it stayed on the ground. That looked too easy, but I didn't waste valuable time questioning my luck: I started shooting at all the creatures surrounding the two agents, never missing the mark. When all the creatures were lying on the ground, my loader wasn't even empty yet.

When Steel realized he wasn't surrounded anymore, he didn't waste time asking me questions: he just approached me with a very intimidating look in his grey eyes, grabbed my gun and dashed to the spot where the lights originated from.

I ran after him, tailed by Sapphire, but he was much faster than both of us.

I rapidly made a mental association: Steel was going to be killed by _my own_ gun!

While I was running, I told Sapphire, with what little breath I had left: "We must not allow him to use that weapon. I know he's going to be killed by that gun."

She answered, panting: "How can we stop him? That entity is inhibiting our powers."

I just sprinted forward, but it was too late: Steel was standing in front of a very indistinct bright figure, which didn't even resemble a human shape, and was aiming my gun at it.

He didn't have a chance to shoot: the gun was yanked from his hand by some invisible force, and aimed at his heart.

I moved faster than I ever did in my whole life: I skidded to a stop, grabbed my pepper spray bottle and threw it with all my might, aiming at Steel's head. It hit him hard on his left temple, and he collapsed, right when the gun fired.

I didn't know whether he was hit, but I couldn't afford the luxury to check: the entity was now turning its attention to Sapphire and me. I bent at Steel's side, yanked the gun from his limp hand, and fired twice at the being, which was now shining brighter than ever. The bullets had no effect, though: it clearly was much more resilient than its minions.

I soon followed Steel's fate: the gun was snatched from my hand by the same invisible force, and aimed at my head, which of course was not protected by the bullet-proof jacket.

The entity seemed to know what it was doing, but it was no tactical expert: it didn't count the bullets, as I am trained to do, therefore it didn't know that the loader was now empty.

While I heard the click of the hammer ineffectively hitting the barrel, I grabbed my spare pack of ammunitions and threw it at the entity's feet, where bright flashes were still sparking, fervently hoping that one of them would detonate the gunpowder.

I shouted: "Need a recharge?", than ducked over Steel's body to protect him from the blast I was hoping was about to go off.

The explosion was strong enough to fling lead fragments all over the place. My bullet-proof jacket protected both me and Steel, and luckily Sapphire was out of range, although she fell to the ground.

When the place returned silent again, I lifted my head and looked for the entity, but it was nowhere to be found. Either the blast destroyed it, or it scared the hell out of it and made it flee.

I was finally free to check on Steel. I turned him around, and the first thing I saw was a nasty bruise forming on his temple, where my pepper spray bottle hit. He would definitely not be happy about it. Only then I noticed a red stain on his left shoulder. The bullet hit him, after all, but the fact that he was collapsing for the blow to the head at least shifted the impact point above his heart. He was alive, albeit wounded.

Sapphire reached me and kneeled beside her partner, a worried expression on her fine features.

"Is he seriously hurt?"

"I don't think so. This type of wound isn't typically life-threatening."

I gently lifted his torso, and noticed an exit hole. "The bullet went right through his shoulder, which means that it didn't hit the bone. It's a rather clean wound, we just need to stop the bleeding."

I tore his shirt's fabric to expose the wound, then I took a clean handkerchief and applied enough pressure to stop the blood slowly oozing out of the neat hole.

A moan escaped Steel's lips, and his eyes fluttered open. When they focused on my face, I smiled and said: "Welcome back. You've been shot by my own gun, so please stay still and let me stop the bleeding. I know it hurts, but you must hold on."

His gaze moved to Sapphire's face, and I heard them exchanging a mental message:

[Are you all right, Sapphire?]

[Yes, Steel, don't worry about me. Are you in pain?]

[I can stand it.]

Then he looked back at me.

"What happened, detective? That entity is not jamming our powers anymore. Has it been destroyed?"

"I don't know. But it disappeared when my ammunitions exploded at its feet, or whatever it uses as lower appendages."

He frowned.

"That seems too easy. It looked like a very powerful entity. How could a simple blast have destroyed it?"

"I agree, but it's nowhere to be found."

He was silent for a while, then looked at me with a questioning look. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

Uh oh, I got some explaining to do.

"Well, to make a long story short, I had this premonitory dream where you were shot to death, so I thought to come and look for you to prevent that from happening. It turned out that the gun that was going to kill you was my own. It's still kind of hard to understand, though."

"It's called a time paradox. How did you prevent the gun from killing me?"

Ouch, that was the hardest part to explain.

"Er… afraid I knocked you down with my pepper spray bottle."

I heard Sapphire chuckle, thus earning Steel's warning look. When he looked back at me, cautiously touching his temple with his left hand, I said: "I'm sorry, but there really was no other way. I just had to take a very quick decision and I couldn't think about anything else."

He sighed. "Well, at least it worked. I wonder how you persuaded the authority to send you here."

The more explanations I gave, the more in trouble I was.

"Well, it didn't exactly send me here. It was more my own decision."

Steel was astounded. "You mean you defied it?"

"Technically, no. I just sort of sneaked in your assignment without its knowing it."

Now both my elemental friends were grinning, and trying to hide it.

"You are more resourceful than I thought."

Whew, that meant that I was not in serious trouble, at least not until the authority discovered what I did.

Suddenly Steel looked behind me and asked: "Who's that?"

I turned, surprised, and saw the same jogger I met before coming toward us. He had a strange, wicked look in his eyes and was holding a club.

I raised my voice, and asked him: "What are you doing here? I told you to keep clear. And what do you think you're doing with that club?"

The man kept approaching us quietly.

"Put it down. That's an order!"

Instead of putting it down, he raised it over his head and turned toward Sapphire. Steel reacted instinctively: he got up, mindless of his wound, and confronted the man. Before I could intervene, they started struggling. Steel clinched him to avoid being hit by the club, but the man started punching him madly, and a few blows reached his injured shoulder. He grimaced in pain, but didn't let go.

I could tell his powers were ineffective again, because I knew that if he could use them, he would pulverize the man. That probably meant the poor guy was possessed by the time entity. Maybe he came back to have a closer look and was now being used by the entity as a weapon.

I had no means of helping Steel: the gun was empty and I had no more ammunition, and the pepper spray's nozzle broke in the impact with Steel's head. The only tool I had left were my handcuffs, but I had no way of using them on a wildly fighting man. I also suspected he was given an inhuman strength, because he was easily disposing of poor Steel, who I knew was a strong man, even without his elemental powers. The wounded shoulder didn't help, either, and he was rapidly succumbing. I could tell he was on the verge of unconsciousness, and he hadn't collapsed just yet only because he was stubbornly clinging to the man.

What I didn't expect was Sapphire's reaction: she ran to the point where the entity originally appeared, took the pepper-spray bottle and cut the inside of her hand with the broken nozzle, which was now rather sharpened. She managed to slash the skin enough to bleed quite a few drops to the ground. As soon as they touched the soil, Steel's assailant stopped, made a ravenous face and an inhuman growl and turned around, now heading toward Sapphire. Steel fell on his knees and could only helplessly watch as he slowly surrendered to unconsciousness, while the threat was moving toward his partner.

I didn't know what Sapphire had in mind, but I rapidly realized it when I saw her picking up the club the man had let go during his struggle with Steel, and firmly standing her ground while she waited for him to reach her. I had never seen such a resolute and intimidating expression on her usually serene face, and it was really scary. I was sure she was going to kill the man by smashing the club on his head, but she came to her senses at the last moment, since she lowered the club and aimed a terrible sweeping blow to his knees. As soon as the man fell, yelling at the impact, I ran to him, grabbing my handcuffs. While he was lying on the ground clenching his injured knees, I managed to handcuff him behind his back pretty easily. He was now finally harmless.

The entity realized it and left the poor man's battered body. I saw a faint brilliance going from his head right to the spot on the ground where Sapphire let her blood drop, I heard a sickening sucking sound and then an alien voice speaking directly in my mind, uttering the word "Soon."

Then everything was silent again. It was over, the entity had left.

"What happened?" I asked, astonished.

I was relieved to see that Sapphire's face had lost that uncharacteristically threatening expression and was back to normal.

"I noticed that every time the man touched Steel's blood, he got stronger and stood Steel's blows easier. So I presumed that the entity feeds on blood and attracted it to my own."

"Very clever, although risky."

"I couldn't let him kill Steel."

"Remind me to never threaten your partner's life while you're around!"

She smiled and then went to Steel's side. He was still unconscious, and his wound was bleeding again.

"Our assignment is complete. At least for now; I heard the entity's warning, too. I have to go now, Steel needs healing and rest. Help me wake him up, he must be conscious to teleport."

Together, we lifted him to a sitting position, and Sapphire gave him gentle slaps on his cheeks, calling his name. When he came to, blinking, Sapphire stroked his hair and beamed the sweetest smile at him.

His look went from Sapphire to me, and then back. We were both holding him. He closed his eyes for a moment, smiling weakly, then said, in a horse voice: "I wish Silver and Mercury could see me now."

I smiled, and found myself holding empty air. The two agents had gone.

THE END

* * *

I need some feedback on the character of detective Stunt: would you like to read more stories about her, or you'd rather not see her intruding into our time agents' chemistry? Any comment is welcome.


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